Beginner Pocket PC Developer

[ricksfiona]

I'm looking for a way to do some Pocket PC Development, but am unsure as how to start.

My goal is to develop a consulting program that keeps track of the work done for a client. Then when an employee does a sync. on their home or work computer, it will upload the new information to a master database, along with the other employees client data.

I would consider myself a beginning to intermediate level C programmer and have done some work with Visual Basic.

I'm thinking that Java would be the way to go for support/portability issues, but I do not know the right path to take for this road.

Any information or advice you folks could give me would be highly appreciated.

[mel]

You can easily create such a program using embedded Visual Basic (eVB), available free from Microsoft. eVB works very well with Access databases on Pocket PCs (.cdb files), which can automatically sync with Microsoft Access on the desktop.

So I recommend eVB as the front-end and Microsoft Access as the database to store your employee data.

I have no knowledge about Java development for Pocket PC's, but personally I would prefer to stick with MS tools. Specially if your upgrade path involves .NET...

[Peter Foot]

You will find some useful articles on starting out programming with eVB at www.devbuzz.com. I would certainly recommend eVB for a beginner (until .NET Compact Framework is released next year)

Peter

[lanwarrior]

Peter Foot and Mel,

In light of the upcoming release of Windows CE .NET (or PocketPC2003 whatever it is), do you think new PPC programmer should learn .NET instead?

I played around with eVB and VB.NET, and surely these 2 things are quite different in my opinion. However, I can see .NET advantage if one learnt it now:

1. Know how to develop .NET applications in BOTH Windows environment and PPC
2. Build the skills and ready for .NET in the future as MS is moving towards this direction
3. Learnt about things likie SOAP, Web Services, etc. which are not avaibale in eVB.

What do you think? .NET or eVB for newbie?

[Peter Foot]

Peter Foot and Mel,

In light of the upcoming release of Windows CE .NET (or PocketPC2003 whatever it is), do you think new PPC programmer should learn .NET instead?

I played around with eVB and VB.NET, and surely these 2 things are quite different in my opinion. However, I can see .NET advantage if one learnt it now:

1. Know how to develop .NET applications in BOTH Windows environment and PPC
2. Build the skills and ready for .NET in the future as MS is moving towards this direction
3. Learnt about things likie SOAP, Web Services, etc. which are not avaibale in eVB.

What do you think? .NET or eVB for newbie?

The only reason I don't recommend VB or C# .NET at the moment is because it is not yet released. If you can wait I would recommend using it for your Pocket PC development. If you have VS.NET then get used to how to program with it on a desktop PC. In many ways it is easier and yet more powerful than eVB. Going forward to Pocket PC 2003 its quite possible that eVB will no longer be supported (well its hardly supported now, I doubt if there will be any updates for it). I would also expect that as the CE platform develops there will be a larger range of managed interfaces than in the current Compact Framework, giving built in access to a greater proportion of the underlying OS - currently there are some gaps which must be filled by using Platform Invoking (calling native API functions) or purchasing third party controls and libraries.

If you absolutely need to get an app out now the use eVB, however if you can hold off until Visual Studio 2003 is released go the .NET route. Another issue in the favour of eVB of course is that its totally free, I'm not totally sure if the Compact Framework is fully supported in the single language developer products e.g. VB.NET 2003 or C#.NET 2003, another option which may be relevant is academic packages...

Peter

[lanwarrior]

Hi Peter,

I am not sure what you meant by:

"...I don't recommend VB or C# .NET at the moment is because it is not yet released."

VB.net has been released for about a year now (we got licensed version of VS.NET Professional), although the Compact Framework is still in BETA versin (correct me if I am wrong). But I expect the full release is due this year.

My company is moving towards PPC development and we decided to use .NET since the application will be a client-server based. Since it's viable to developed the desktop app. using .NET, we opt to use the same for PocketPC. It is beneficial for long term use.

[Peter Foot]

Hi Peter,

I am not sure what you meant by:

"The only reason I don't recommend VB or C# .NET at the moment is because it is not yet released."

I mean for Pocket PC development using the Compact Framework (that was the subject of the original question). Unless you have access to the Beta software through MSDN for example then you have to wait until the release which may not be until April (Its supposed to co-incide with the release of Windows Server 2003).

I would therefore recommend going the .NET route unless you need to get a particular product out in a very short timeframe. Personally I would not give eVB a second look after having been lucky enough to use the .NET Compact Framework Beta. eVB is however free, available now and fairly well documented.

Certainly if you are developing both a desktop and a device component you can start developing the desktop application now and build your pocket pc companion software once the tools are available to do so.

[Mobile Bob]

Hi Peter,

I am not sure what you meant by:

"The only reason I don't recommend VB or C# .NET at the moment is because it is not yet released."

I mean for Pocket PC development using the Compact Framework (that was the subject of the original question). Unless you have access to the Beta software through MSDN for example then you have to wait until the release which may not be until April (Its supposed to co-incide with the release of Windows Server 2003).

I would therefore recommend going the .NET route unless you need to get a particular product out in a very short timeframe. Personally I would not give eVB a second look after having been lucky enough to use the .NET Compact Framework Beta. eVB is however free, available now and fairly well documented.

Certainly if you are developing both a desktop and a device component you can start developing the desktop application now and build your pocket pc companion software once the tools are available to do so.

Peter,

I'm a computer science student, and I also am interested in getting my feet wet writing programs for Pocket PCs. I've decided to sit on the sidelines until the final version of the Compact Framework is released (as opposed to getting started with eVB and eC++).

I am also interested in learning development for Symbian devices. Have you done any Symbian programming? Would you recommend it to someone just starting out? I suspect there is probably a larger job market for Symbian developers in Europe than there is in the U.S. I noticed Metroworks offers CodeWarrior C++ development tools for Symbian 7.0, and they are also offering these tools in a package that includes the new Sony Ericsson P800. In your opinion, would there be benefit to me in pursuing this?

[Rirath]

Hi Peter,

I am not sure what you meant by:

"...I don't recommend VB or C# .NET at the moment is because it is not yet released."

VB.net has been released for about a year now (we got licensed version of VS.NET Professional), although the Compact Framework is still in BETA versin (correct me if I am wrong). But I expect the full release is due this year.

Don't remember the exact date, but the full .NET 2003 with Compact Framework is due out I believe April 26th of this year. I think the update was like $29 with shipping and all. I'm sure you can find the link if you search. I'm sure you know VB.NET (2002), without the compact framework, can't make PPC apps.

Edit:: Here it is... http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7138&highlight=compact+framework

But I'm with him... I wouldn't recommend trying to seriously program with the .NET Compact Framework final beta. There's usually some serious changes from the final beta to the real product. Lines of code are often unimplemented that are crucial unless you really want to spend hours working around them. Just wait the 3 months and you'll save yourself a major headache.

[Peter Foot]

But I'm with him... I wouldn't recommend trying to seriously program with the .NET Compact Framework final beta. There's usually some serious changes from the final beta to the real product. Lines of code are often unimplemented that are crucial unless you really want to spend hours working around them. Just wait the 3 months and you'll save yourself a major headache.

The final beta does contain the Release to Manufacturing version of the Compact Framework. Therefore there will be no further changes before the official release. However the issue for most developers is getting the beta code, you either need to have been a VS.NET beta tester (in which case you will have already started programming with .NET CF) or an MSDN universal subscriber - if you are lucky enough to be the latter then I would suggest giving it a whirl! For everyone else its a patient wait until release near the end of april.

[Rirath]

The final beta does contain the Release to Manufacturing version of the Compact Framework. Therefore there will be no further changes before the official release.

Hmm, I find it hard to believe a few things they've said since the start would be put in, won't make it. I'm not sure if you're including the actual IDE and language or just the Compact Framework files when you say it's final. For example, displaying images at runtime with VB. Right now it's a major pain to do, they said that would be fixed by the final.

Personally, from what I've seen working with the final beta of 2003 and from what I saw working with the final beta of .NET (2002), I'm almost willing to bet the full shipping product will be a heck of a lot easier to work with. And small changes can break programs, so I'm holding off. Three months isn't that bad.

[Peter Foot]

While theres a small possibility that the environment might get a few tweaks, the runtime for the compact framework is now fixed so the namespaces, classes, methods and properties will not be changed...

Peter