Sebastopol, CA--If you listen to Palm buffs talk about their Palms (or other PDAs), you may be reminded of the early days of the PC when there were a lot of enthusiasts eagerly awaiting any new functionality that came their way. Like the early PC applications, many of today's Palm applications are amusing or interesting, and several are actually quite useful. Few applications, however, have become crucial enough to propel Palm usage into the realm of truly pervasive technology. Still, the appetite for functionality is there, and the advent of networking ability and wireless connectivity has increased the demand for Palm programmers to produce applications that will realize the handheld's true potential.
According to Greg Winton, author of Palm OS Network Programming (O'Reilly, US $39.95), the convergence of handheld, wireless, and peer-to-peer technologies will allow people to communicate as never before. "Some of the infrastructure for this glorious future is already complete, but there is still a way to go," says Winton. "There are already networking applications available for the Palm, but there are a lot more Palm devices out there that are not connected, just waiting for the right connection."
Winton adds, "The past five years have seen incredible growth in both the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) market in general, and the Palm OS Platform in particular. While any book on Palm OS programming is unlikely to appear in Oprah's Book Club, the Palm V did appear as a Christmas Gift pick, almost two years ago."
Palm OS Network Programming is the first complete guide to developing network applications for the Palm Computing Platform. The book covers all major Palm network concepts such as transport protocols and client-server applications from the ground up, clearly illustrated with examples using Metrowerks CodeWarrior development environment and GCC. The book also provides a detailed examination of the Palm Net Library and offers sample networking applications to illustrate how to make the best use of this essential tool.
The Palm Computing Platform is today's fastest-growing consumer platform and the need for networking applications for connected devices continues to grow rapidly. "The electronic networks and applications that use them are the infrastructure for the next century," says Winton, "just as the interstate highway network was the infrastructure for the last century and the railroad network was the infrastructure for the one before that. Network application developers have to create a high-quality infrastructure and efficient, stable applications. The next economy depends on it."
Software developers who are comfortable with the basics of Palm OS programming and are interested in developing networking applications for the platform will find Palm OS Network Programming to be an essential resource. Although no previous network experience is assumed, the book will be most valuable to developers who have written Palm applications in C.
Online Resources:
An article by the author, "Berkeley on the Palm: Using the Palm OS Sockets Glue Library."
Chapter 5, "A Brief Tour of the Net Library," is available free online.
More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples.
A cover graphic in jpeg format.
Palm OS Network
Programming
By Greg Winton
September 2001
ISBN 0-596-00005-7, 382 pages, $39.95 (US)
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