Palm OS Programming, 2nd Edition

Designing Applications for Palm Devices

Here are the elements of that magic formula again:

• Easy to carry

• Inexpensive

• Expandable (both for a user and a developer)

• Effortlessly connects with a desktop computer

• Works great and is simple to use

You, as a software designer, are responsible for adding to the expandability of the platform by creating software applications that work great and are simple to use. Part of this task is up to you and we can help you with the rest.

Here are our jobs:

Your job

Come up with the great application idea (if you don’t already have one).

Our job

Help you understand what’s involved in making a good idea into a Palm application that is simple to use and fast. We tell you about good Palm OS design. We also tell you what belongs in the handheld application and what belongs in the conduit. We give you some design guidance and tell you where to find information in this book.

Essential Design Elements

We spent so much time discussing what makes Palm OS handhelds successful so that you would understand the design philosophy behind a Palm OS application. We do this in part, because handheld software is not like desktop software (any of you desktop software designers will have a bunch of bad design habits that you need to ruthlessly crush). These are the essential elements for which every Palm application needs to be designed:

• Small screen size

• Limited text input on the handheld

• Seamless syncing to a program on a desktop computer

• Small in size, simple in design, fast as ...