The Accredited Symbian Developer Primer Fundamentals of Symbian OS

by Stichbury, Jo; Jacobs, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780470058275
• ISBN10: 0470058277
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-12-14
• Publisher: WILEY

Summary

This new book, first in the Academy series, is the official guide to the ASD exam, priming candidates for the exam, explaining exactly what they need to know. The Primer explains the knowledge tested in the Accredited Symbian Developer exam, identifying and explaining the topics examined. Each of the exam's objectives is succinctly described, with the appropriate concepts explained in detail. Both standard C++ and topics specific to Symbian C++, such as Symbian Types and Declarations, Platform Secuirty, and Cleanup Stack, are covered. The authors are experts in the field of Symbian C++ and contributed extensively to the design and creation of questions for the ASD exam. Jo Stichbury is the author of Symbian OS Explained and both authors are, of course, fully qualified Accredited Symbian Developers.

Author Biography

Jo Stichbury is the author of Symbian OS Explained and one of the first Accredited Symbian Developers.  She has been a Symbian OS C++ developer since 1997, working for Symbian, Ericsson and Nokia.  Jo has worked with Symsource to write a number of the questions in the ASD exam.

Mark Jacobs has been in the software industry business for over 18 years, and has worked for Symbian OS for 6 years as a senior developer and system architect, often closely with Symbian licensees.  He is an Accredited Symbian Developer.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
About this Book	p. xiii
About the Authors	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. xxi
Exam Essentials Summary	p. xxv
C++ Language Fundamentals	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Types	p. 1
Statements	p. 8
Expressions and Operators	p. 14
Functions	p. 17
Dynamic Memory Allocation	p. 25
Tool Chain Basics	p. 27
Classes and Objects	p. 31
Introduction	p. 31
Scope and C++ Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) Support	p. 31
Constructors and Destructors	p. 36
Class Members	p. 40
Class Design and inheritance	p. 49
Introduction	p. 49
Class Relationships	p. 49
Inheritance	p. 52
Dynamic Polymorphism - Virtual Methods	p. 56
Static Polymorphism and Templates	p. 64
Symbian OS Types and Declarations	p. 71
Introduction	p. 71
The Fundamental Symbian OS Types	p. 71
T Classes	p. 73
C Classes	p. 74
R Classes	p. 76
M Classes	p. 77
Static Classes	p. 79
Factors to Consider when Creating a Symbian OS Class	p. 79
Why Is the Symbian OS Naming Convention Important?	p. 80
References	p. 81
Leaves and the Cleanup Stack	p. 83
Introduction	p. 83
Leaves: Lightweight Exceptions for Symbian OS	p. 83
How to Work with Leaves	p. 86
Comparing Leaves and Panics	p. 89
What Is a TRAP?	p. 89
The Cleanup Stack	p. 91
Detecting Memory Leaks	p. 99
References	p. 100
Two-Phase Construction and Object Destruction	p. 101
Introduction	p. 101
Two-Phase Construction	p. 101
Object Destruction	p. 105
References	p. 106
Descriptors	p. 107
Introduction	p. 107
Features of Symbian OS Descriptors	p. 107
The Symbian OS Descriptor Classes	p. 109
The Inheritance Hierarchy of the Descriptor Classes	p. 116
Using the Descriptor APIs	p. 117
Descriptors as Function Parameters	p. 120
Correct Use of the Dynamic Descriptor Classes	p. 120
Common Inefficiencies in Descriptor Usage	p. 125
Literal Descriptors	p. 126
Descriptor Conversion	p. 128
References	p. 132
Dynamic Arrays	p. 133
Introduction	p. 133
Dynamic Arrays in Symbian OS	p. 133
RArray, RPointerArray or CArrayX?	p. 137
Array Granularities	p. 139
Array Sorting and Searching	p. 140
TFixedArray	p. 145
References	p. 146
Active Objects	p. 147
Introduction	p. 147
Event-Driven Multitasking on Symbian OS	p. 147
Class CActive	p. 150
The Active Scheduler	p. 158
Canceling an Outstanding Request	p. 161
Background Tasks	p. 163
Common Problems	p. 165
References	p. 167
System Structure	p. 169
Introduction	p. 169
DLLs in Symbian OS	p. 170
Writable Static Data	p. 173
Executables in ROM and RAM	p. 176
Threads and Processes	p. 177
Inter-Process Communication (IPC)	p. 181
Recognizers	p. 185
Panics and Assertions	p. 186
References	p. 190
Client-Server Framework	p. 191
Introduction	p. 191
The Client-Server Pattern	p. 191
Fundamentals of the Symbian OS Client-Server Framework	p. 192
Symbian OS Client-Server Classes	p. 194
Client-Server Data Transfer	p. 201
Impact of the Client-Server Framework	p. 206
References	p. 209
File Server and Streams	p. 211
Introduction	p. 211
The Symbian OS File System	p. 211
Streams and Stores	p. 217
References	p. 227
Sockets	p. 229
Introduction	p. 229
Introducing Sockets	p. 229
The Symbian OS Sockets Architecture	p. 232
Using Symbian OS Sockets	p. 235
References	p. 238
Tool Chain	p. 239
Introduction	p. 239
Build Tools	p. 239
Hardware Builds	p. 246
Installing an Application to Phone Hardware	p. 248
The Symbian OS Emulator	p. 251
References	p. 254
Platform Security	p. 255
Introduction	p. 255
The Trust Model	p. 255
Capability Model	p. 260
Data Caging	p. 266
Secure Identifier, Vendor Identifier and Unique Identifier	p. 269
Application Design for a Secure Platform	p. 272
Releasing a Secure Application on Symbian OS v9	p. 276
The Native Software Installer	p. 280
References	p. 281
Compatibility	p. 283
Introduction	p. 283
Levels of Compatibility	p. 283
Preventing Compatibility Breaks - What Cannot Be Changed?	p. 285
What Can Be Changed Without Breaking Compatibility?	p. 290
Best Practice - Designing to Ensure Future Compatibility	p. 292
References	p. 294
Bibliography	p. 295
Index	p. 297
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