Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother -- the DOCS available at Palm, Inc. are better
Review: I read the SDK documentation and the SDK Companion before Iever bought this book. I thought it would help clarify some of themore difficult points (as I come from a weak programming background.)But instead, I found that I already know MORE than this book teaches.Many of the examples are pseudo-code, worthless as real examples, andbarely helpful for the calls they make. The authors often gloss overthe more important points like common use, syntax, and definitions;telling the reader to read the SDK documents for THOSE things. Well,if I can read the SDK for everything important, than why do I need thebook? To summarize, it's not worth the money...
Rating: 
Summary: More gold from O'REI LLY. A 'must have' for Palm programmers
Review: I've had the book for a few days, and although I haven't finished it, I have already found enough material to make it more than worth it's price. There is also an accompanying CD-ROM with some complete as well as 'lite' versions of some Palm development tools. The authors suggest this book is for C programmers. I would agree that non C programmers may want to get a second opinion, or see the book for themselves before purchasing it. But I found the book very useful, and I am not a C programmer (I am a programmer in several higher level languages, though). There is coverage of Metrowerks CodeWarrior, Satellite Forms, Linux programming for the palm (with GCC), and of course, the original development platform, the Mac OS. Some topics covered are: Serial communications, TCP/IP communications, Infrared, bar-code reading (for the Symbol. Conduits are given considerable coverage, with an excellent presentation of two-way syncing. The sections I found most helpful were: Designing specifically for the Palm OS; Debugging (especially concerning the use of 'Gremlins'); and the especially thorough coverage of Conduits and two-way syncing. If you would like to do some programming in a language other than C, there is adequate coverage of other options to justify the purchase of this book. If you know you want to program for the Palm OS, but have no idea which programming tool(s) to use, this book is a fine way to help make up your mind. If you plan to write programs in C for the Palm OS, especially with Metrowerks CodeWarrior, this book is what you've been waiting for.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: I've read tons and tons of Palm programming books, and each one of them covers about 40% of what I wanted, but in depth. This is the only book to cover everything that I need in Palm programming, including programming the Conduit, and even Installing the Conduit!No Palm programmer should be without this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good on "why", but not "what" and "how"
Review: If you're new to Palm coding, this probably isn't the book for you. Long winded explanations of why things are done certain ways on the Palm *precede* any examples. The real content (how to make an application) doesn't begin until near the middle. Once you're at that point, typing in the examples (only the first example is available for download) reveals yet another oversight: they are not complete. The omissions include global variables, resource file descriptions, and more! I give it two stars, not one, because its descriptions of "why" are quite detailed. After I've studied through a better Palm introductory programming book, I'll likely reread the detailed descriptions to broaden my understanding. But for now, while I need to understand "what" and "how" more than "why", it's being shelved.
Rating:
Summary: Information from one of the authors
Review: Just in case it's unclear, I'd like to point out that all the code from the book is available from the author's website, ready to be compiled either using CodeWarror for Palm OS on Mac or on Windows,or using PRC-Tools (GCC) on Windows, Unix, or Mac OS X.
Rating:
Summary: Information from one of the authors
Review: Just in case it's unclear, I'd like to point out that all the code from the book is available from the author's website, ready to be compiled either using CodeWarror for Palm OS on Mac or on Windows,or using PRC-Tools (GCC) on Windows, Unix, or Mac OS X.
Rating: 
Summary: A huge disappointment....
Review: Normally, with most other topics, I reach for the O'Reilly book before all others... Unfortunately, this one falls so far short of the typical O'Reilly standard its disappointing. I'm an experienced C/C++ programmer, as well as VB and Delphi, and never before have I seen a book that differed so far from the truth. The authors make statements concerning some controls and other things that are simply not true, and never provide sample source code for how to use them. If you want to see how they wrote a convoluted sales app, buy it. If you want to learn how to program things for yourself, get someone else's book.
Rating:
Summary: Completely Pathetic
Review: Now, I have bought other O'Reilly books before (Java in a Nutshell is a great reference). However, this piece of garbage makes me wonder if it ever saw an editor. Problem #1: The examples. Now an example is meant to show you how to create a program or how a function works. How this book does it is put the function in a code snippet but forget to show you what their header/resource file looks like. So you are forced to guess at what the parameters are. Problem #2: Logic and flow of the book. Now, when they actually give you a programming prototype for a function (not all that often), you usually get a code snippet that shows how the code works. Of course, on a few occasions, the code snippet included other functions they hadn't bothered to describe yet so you are sitting there trying to decipher what a function that is describe 5 pages later is doing. On top of that, the authors seem to like to jump from subject to subject with no real connections between them. Problem #3: Providing information. I like the fact that it says, and I quote "We don't discuss any of the following objects, because their creation and coding requirements are well documented and straightforward." It goes onto list things such as buttons, checkboxes, bitmaps and a few others. Now, this is supposed to be a DEVELOPER'S GUIDE and you are not giving us this information?! At least, tell us where this information IS documented so I can do something with a button or somesuch. Problem #4: Variables. Okay, this is offputting. In almost every programming book I can think of, the author(s) spend a few pages describing what kind of variables the system provides. While the PalmOS has lots of these variables (all sorts of Ptr types), why doesn't the book bother to tell me whether the UInt (an unsigned integer, as far as I know) is 16-bit or 32-bit? The authors do not bother to EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE the fact that there are ANY variables. Instead, they just bandy about Word, DWord & others and assume you know what they are. Now in defense of the book, I have not looked into the conduit development part. But if it is anything like the application development part, this book should be on reserve ... as a doorstop.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to the usual O'reilly standard
Review: O'Reilly once made good books. Yep, made the, the way a craftsman makes a fine tool or the way a structural engineer make a suspension bridge across the Niagara Falls. You know, nice solid things that you could read to find out the details of that obscure perl command or the way to get create a relational database using emacs. Now the rot has set in. I became suspicious when they released a VB book (ok, it was a pretty hardcore vb book and I actually bought it ) Now they are doing what all the other " con-the-suckers" publishers are doing, ie producing a book with little or no substance. This must be the Pokemon of books, capitalising on the popularity of the Palm with no real content inside. Wake up O'Reilly ! Repent !
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for beginners
Review: The author is incredibly enthusiastic! Excellent intro for anyone interested in Palm.
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