Getting started with Symbian development

That's it. You have decided to start developping on the Symbian OS. But now you feel a little bit confused. Where to start from ? Symbian ? Nokia ? What is UIQ ? Nokia Series 60 ? This tutorial will try to answer questions on how to get started with Symbian C++ programming.

1.1 Identify your target

First you have to decide your target. Shall your application run on the SonyEricsson P800, on the Nokia 3650/7650 or the N-Gage and/or on the Siemens SX1,...? As a matter of fact, all of these phones, even if all based on Symbian OS [1], are not completely compatible : Symbian OS is just the name of the low-level operating system and the middleware stuff. In top of it comes the GUI system. This system is not licensed directly by Symbian with its OS. It's up to each phone manufacturer to develop its own GUI or to license a GUI platform that can runs on top of the OS.

There are currently three main GUI systems:
  Nokia Series 60
  Nokia Series 80
  UIQ

Here is a short table summarizing this:

Each target has its pros and cons. Series 60 platforms are probably the most commons and -IMHO- the easiest to start with.

1.2. Choose your development environment

Once you select your platform, there will be a second decision to make: which SDK / IDE shall I use. There is currently three main options:
  Visual C++ 6.0 (or Visual Studio .NET 2003)
  Metrowerks CodeWarrior for Symbian OS
  Borland C++ Builder, Mobile Edition (totally outdated now)
  Carbide.c++

The best environment will be the one you will be the more familiar with. And most of the work can be done with Visual Studio, CodeWarrior or Carbide.c++.

Carbide.c++ is probably the best choice: this is the only option to get a completely free environment with a debugger today and since release 1.2, it is pretty stable.

1.3. Which kind of PC do you need

Most today PC are suitable for Symbian development. You just need enough memory and Windows NT, 2000 or XP.

I am currently using the Core2Duo E6600 with 2GB RAM workstation (perfect) and an old Centrino 1.4Ghz with 1.5GB RAM systems (a bit slow but still ok).

1.4. Download and Install your SDK

Here are a few links that would allow you to download or buy the appropriate IDE and SDK:
  Nokia SDK for Visual Studio
  Nokia SDK and Borland C++ Builder
  Metrowerks Codewarrior
  Nokia SDK for Metrowerks Codewarrior
  SonyEricsson SDK for Metrowerks Codewarrior
 

Part II :>:

[1] Note that you may find the name EPOC here and there. EPOC was the name of Symbian OS before release 6