05-30-2003, 07:00 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
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Symbian, Java and Series 60 Platform Books Slaughtered
http://www.sys-con.com/wireless/article.cfm?id=511
I read a lot of books. Depending on how busy I am with other things in life, I try to read 200-600 pages a month. I mostly read books on programming but lately I have started reading more novels and books on photograpy. Growing old? Well, I came across this interesting article about wireless developer reference books resources. Developer and editor-in-chief of Wireless Business & Technology, Bill Ray has some definate thoughts on a couple of books on wireless development. Check it out and tell me what you think! What's the best mobile application development book you've read?
"Learning to program for the Symbian OS is difficult enough, but given the available documentation, it's remarkable anyone manages it. ... I'm sure that the information is in this thousand-plus page book, but I'm damned if I can find it. Unfortunately books like Programming for the Series 60 Platform and Symbian OS, from Wiley, make constant references to the Wrox title, making you wonder at times why you purchased the latter. Even the combination won't give you everything you need to know to build an application on a Nokia 7650, with the Wrox title being out-of-date and the one from Wiley suggesting the wrong processor specification. ... Wireless Java for Symbian Devices, again from Wiley, suffers particularly from the problems inherent in rushing to publication. ... Micro Java Game Development, from Addison Wesley, fails to add much to the subject. Games development should be exciting, at least when it's being learned (before descending into the 24/7 slog that makes up professional games programming), and while covering several versions of Java, the book fails to instill enthusiasm, spending most of its time with the kind of text-based application already familiar to most computer programmers."
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05-30-2003, 08:48 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 125
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The article pans most of the books it reviews. That doesn't surprise me.
The computer publishing industry has been pushing books out the door faster and faster every year. I think we've finally hit the point where it is pretty much all crap. I have a WROX title authored by no fewer than 15 (?!?!) people and the result is a mishmash of inconsistency. Even O'Reilley--who you used to be able to count on--is putting out garbage these days.
An acquaintance of mine gave up on the industry for exactly these reasons. After publishing his 5th book, he went to work for Microsoft where there is less pressure to get it done fast and more time to get it done right.
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05-30-2003, 09:04 PM
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05-30-2003, 10:38 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by David McNamee
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The .NET Compact Framework (Core Reference) is on my desk right now. It really is very well written!
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05-30-2003, 10:48 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 354
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Andy Sjostrom
Quote:
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Originally Posted by David McNamee
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The .NET Compact Framework (Core Reference) is on my desk right now. It really is very well written! |
Nevertheless there are still mistakes and inconsistencies even in this book (at least based on my experience of the 2 chapter sample I picked up at MDC). For example in Chapter 2 in the section on COM Interop it suggests you can use embedded Visual Basic to compile a native wrapper dll around a COM object, which is just a bit silly.
Of course the problem with many books on this scale is that a lot can change by the time they are finally published...
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05-31-2003, 01:58 AM
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Theorist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 307
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Andy Sjostrom
The .NET Compact Framework (Core Reference) is on my desk right now. It really is very well written!
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I'd have to second that (or possibly third it by now).
The only real criticism I have so far is that I think it could deal with the Activate and Deactivate events in more detail (handling these well is proving to be a bit of a voyage of discovery for me. Being a lazy sod I'd rather someone else had made that voyage on my behalf and sent me a postcard with the details  ).
That said, much of the book would serve as an excellent introduction to .NET development in general even beyond the Compact Framework. 0X
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Linear Mode
