Quickest way to build a simple Symbian app?

Question

I have a Symbian 9.1 handset, Nokia E65, based on Nokia S60 series UI. I'd like to build a simple, full screen, graphic application. It should be able to display some text and pictures and have a basic interaction from the keyboard. That's for me only, not to be deployed.

Now, what do you think is the quickest and most painless way to have it done?

I have the following skills: - HTML, PHP, ASP.net, JS - ASP.net and C#, Silverlight - Java, but mostly for networking, not UI - Some C++

I have downloaded the Nokia IDE, but it is scary at first sight :)

Any tutorial or example are welcome!

Edit: In particular, two questions:

1. is there a possibility to make a stand-alone flash application for that handset?
2. how about the QT mobile version?

Answer 1

For your device, definitely use Python for S60. It is much easier to start with than Symbian's C++ SDK and in case you ever need more low level functionality than python gives you, you can write small modules in c++ and use them in your Python program.

For a simple application like the one you are describing, Python will do just fine. You don't even need any of Nokia's IDEs / tools on the PC, you can just write the code in any text editor, copy it to the phone and test it live.

As others have mentioned, other options include:

• Symbian C++ SDK : As you have discovered the tools and not the most intuitive to work with, development is not straight forward either.
• Nokia's WRT : Using javascript/css/html, but it is not available for your phone.
• Qt : Not available for your phone.
• Java Me : Probably your second best option, your code will be slightly larger but more protable. The tools are not as straight forward as with Python, but definitely not as complicated as with Symbian.

Answer 2

If you think you may like to do some further development on the Symbian platform in future, I'd strongly suggest looking at Qt. Unfortunately, however, you can't use it on your E65, since Qt requires S60 3.1 or higher. (The E65 runs S60 3.0).

Since Qt coding in done in C++, you also have access to native platform APIs if required. For most apps however, the (considerably more user-friendly) Qt APIs provide all the functionality you need.

Depending on your background, the learning curve may be steeper than using Java or Python, but the pay-off is that you get access to a very powerful toolkit. And of course, as long as you use only Qt APIs, your app should be easily portable to other Qt platforms if necessary.

Answer 3

Go for Java ME. All the things you list in your post is possible to do in Java.

Answer 4

The Symbian SDK for C++ can be downloaded here.

NSBasic is another option.

Kindness,

Dan

Answer 5

May I suggest Python? For newer Symbian handsets I'd recommend Web Runtime (WRT), but it is not supported on good old E65.

Answer 6

I'm obviously biased but I would suggest getting the 2D graphics example code from the "Quick Recipes On Symbian OS" book:

Answer 7

If you know HTML and JS already, you should be able to write a Web widget for your Symbian device pretty easily, using the tools available through Forum Nokia. More info here: http://www.forum.nokia.com/Technology_Topics/Web_Technologies/Web_Runtime/

These widgets are standalone full screen applications that use the device WebKit browser engine for rendering and UI. You can also use keyboard inputs and customize the softkeys if you wish.