Symbian book reviews

[Mr. Buttington]

Hello

Just wondering if anybody has read any of the recent Symbian books and could comment on them:

- Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones Volume 3

- Symbian OS communications programming

- The Symbian OS Architecture Sourcebook

- Symbian Operating System Concepts

[stichbury]

Is there a particular type of book you're looking for? They're all different so, depending what you're looking for, the recommendation would vary. Or did you want a more general critique?

[symbianyucca]

I just read "Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones Volume 3", it surprisingly similar (in all the good ways) to good-old Martin Tasker's book content, only that it is updated to OS 9 now.

But anyway, as Jo said, the books suitability depends on what you are looking for. And if you are looking for learning all od the necessary basics and bit more really well, then you actually forgot one of the best books from your list, which is of course Jo's Symbian essentials book.

yucca

[stichbury]

Thanks yucca.

I meant to add to my previous post that this is a very good thread to open up the discussion of Symbian Press books further. What do people like about our books? What do you think we could improve upon? And what books would you like to see next?

[mayankkedia]

I would like to see some books dedicated specially to Device Driver development and the nitty gritties of it..and if there are books like that already available can someone point me to them..

i have read os internals by jane sales..and i thought its a fab book in the sense it tells so much internal details about the OS per se which is wonderful to know information for any Symbian programmer..

Cheers
mayank

[symbianyucca]

Have you checked the "internals" book, might be the one you are looking for.

yucca

[petrib]

yucca, mayank already said "i have read os internals by jane sales".

There is no Symbian device driver development book. SYSOPENDIGIA in Finland offers a training class/course on the topic, though.

[symbianyucca]

Yep, appears that my speed-reading style jumps some words... Glad to be corrected.

yucca

[Mr. Buttington]

Is there a particular type of book you're looking for? They're all different so, depending what you're looking for, the recommendation would vary. Or did you want a more general critique?

What I was wondering about these books is:

- Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones Volume 3
If you have the previous edition of the this book and also the plat sec book then does this edition have anything new that isn't already covered by those two?

- Symbian OS communications programming
Is each area of comms covered extensively, or is it more of an introduction to each area?

- The Symbian OS Architecture Sourcebook
I have read the description of this book and skimmed the sample chapter but am still not really clear what this book is actually about. Does it describe the motivation etc. that lead to the creation of certain Symbian constructs such as active objects, descriptors, cleanup stack etc. (if so, the Author wasn't at Psion during Symbian OS's creation thus is it accurate). Or does it describe the high level architecture of the OS? If so then how, there is no high level architecture for the OS, it evolved as a sprawling mass of spaghetti, how can you write a book describing a sprawling mass. Its not clear from its description or sample chapter what this book is actually about.

- Symbian Operating System Concepts
Is this book intended to teach people about operating system concepts and just happens to use Symbian to illustrate those principles. Or is it intended to teach people who know Symbian about operating system principles?
If somebody wanted to learn OS concepts in general would they be better off reading Tanenbaum? If somebody wants to learn Symbian OS operating system principles in particular are they better off reading Sales? Where does this book lie in intended audience?

[pirosl]

What I was wondering about these books is:

- Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones Volume 3
If you have the previous edition of the this book and also the plat sec book then does this edition have anything new that isn't already covered by those two?

At least Introduction to SQL RDBMS chapter is completly new

[stichbury]

- Symbian Operating System Concepts
Is this book intended to teach people about operating system concepts and just happens to use Symbian to illustrate those principles. Or is it intended to teach people who know Symbian about operating system principles?
If somebody wanted to learn OS concepts in general would they be better off reading Tanenbaum? If somebody wants to learn Symbian OS operating system principles in particular are they better off reading Sales? Where does this book lie in intended audience?

The intended audience for this is universities. It's a Symbian Academy Series title, and the book is a textbook written by an author with experience at teaching the concepts. Sales and Tannenbaum are great books; this book borrows from each and presents a summary for students, as well as providing exercises for tutorials/lab sessions.

It's also a good book if you find the other two tomes rather intimidating. Sales pitches in at 800 pages and is heavy (in the physical as well as intellectual sense). This book is a smaller format, 300 page summary of concepts rather than all the details you need about Symbian OS. A nice way to get into operating systems basics before tackling Sales & co.

[ptrmn]

Mr. Buttington: I recently read The Symbian OS Sourcebook, and I'm about as confused as you are about it. The first part is historical in nature, and actually goes some way to explain design decisions taken during the early stages of Epoc32 development. Then there's a pretty pointless part that describes the different modules in the system, with no apparent connection to the rest of the book. Then it ends with some "case studies" of parts of the system. There are some interesting bits here, although most of them are recycled from the first part.

I'd recommend it, if only for the first part, if you're interested. And if you're looking for explanations for design decisions, not much of this material will be new to you.

[stichbury]

There's more information about Symbian OS Communications Programming - Second Edition in an interview with the lead author on the Symbian Developer Network here http://developer.symbian.com/main/le.../interview.jsp

I can't comment on the book myself - just got my copy this morning )