The Symbian OS Architecture Sourcebook: Design and Evolution of a Mobile Phone OS is a book that takes a different approach to that of most Symbian Press books; it is not so much a 'how to' book but a 'what and why' (and, to some extent, a 'who and when') book. It delves deep into the decision-making processes that shaped Symbian OS, occasionally revealing the names of key individuals and their roles in the developmental process. This book gives readers the inside story, the scoop if you like, on the success that is Symbian OS.The book also contains a component by component reference breakdown of the Symbian OS System Model, deep analysis of the roles that each component plays and how they have evolved. In addition, five case studies explore various aspects of the history and evolution of Symbian OS in depth.

This book summarizes the most important facts of C++ development for Symbian OS mobile phones. All relevant topics of the Accredited Symbian Developer-exam are dealt with. The concepts and tasks are explained in-depth, so you will almost certainly learn about new details that you were not aware of before - no matter how experienced you are.
The main target group of this book are people who do already have experience with Symbian OS and want to expand their knowledge or prepare for the exam. However, it is equally well-suited if you do already have programming experience and want to learn the facts about correct Symbian OS development as fast as possible. Keeping those two reader groups in mind, it naturally rules out people just starting with development. Even though the book includes a quick review of the most relevant C++ topics, the pace will be too high for beginners. For them, other books like "Developing S60 Applications" will be more suited, which introduce readers to the relatively complex world of development for Symbian OS at a slower speed and with more practical examples.

A big advantage of this book is hat it's - at the time of writing this text - new and therefore covers the latest aspects of Symbian OS 9 (e.g. Platform Security, RBuf-descriptors, ...). Most other currently available Symbian OS books do not include those parts yet.

A short word of warning: Some sections of this book are identical to "Symbian OS Explained", which was written by the excellent author Jo Stichbury as well. That book is also highly recommended - but if your budget is limited, you should probably not buy those two books at the same time. Which one you want depends on your needs. The "Primer"-book is more up-to-date and more fact-oriented. In contrast to that, the "Explained"-book is based on Symbian OS 8 and therefore does not yet include some new concepts, but gives a broader overview of topics that are not directly relevant for the exam, but are still very useful.

Developing good C++ code on Symbian OS requires a clear understanding of the underlying concepts and the nature of the operating system. This book explains the key features of Symbian OS and shows how you can use this knowledge most effectively. It also focuses on some aspects of good C++ style that particularly apply to Symbian OS. With understanding and practice, the expertise required to write high quality C++ code on Symbian OS should become second nature.

The book is divided into a series of self-contained chapters, each discussing specific and important features of Symbian OS. Besides the fundamentals, the chapters illustrate best practice and describe common mistakes to avoid. Each chapter delivers simple and straightforward explanations without omitting the important facts.
The book focuses upon the core of the operating system, which should be equally applicable to all versions of Symbian OS, and user interfaces, such as UIQ and S60. Any important differences between platforms are highlighted.

This book doesn't teach you how to write C++ it assumes a reasonable understanding of programming in C++ and that you're already familiar with the most important concepts of the language. But neither does it assume in-depth knowledge of Symbian OS. It covers the basics such as descriptors (Chapters 5 and 6) and active objects (Chapters 8 and 9) as well as more complex features such as the Symbian OS client-server architecture (Chapters 11 and 12) and ECOM (Chapter 14).

If you are a developer targeting, or thinking of targeting, Symbian OS, this book will show you how to write the most effective C++. You will benefit from a greater understanding of the characteristic features and design of the operating system, and confidence in how to use them. And, however experienced you are with Symbian OS, there are always new tricks to learn, which is why this book will appeal to all levels of developer.