Rating: 
Summary: Great Book for a beginner...must read
Review: I started programming in C when I was 12 and installed NetBSD when I was 14 and started programming console apps for BSD(I'm now 20). I stopped programming when I was 16 and started up again. The palm has started my desire to develop again. I fired up Metrowerks for Palm the other day and I could barely write a "Hello World" program. I then picked up this book and it is great. It teaches you how to write games, databases, you name it. I've read many palm books and by far if you were clueless like me then this book is for you. This book uses PocketC as its dev environment of choice. PocketC is a great tool to learn with. Get this as your first palm programming book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected; and disappointed
Review: I was under the impression that this book was about how to program Palm applications in the 'C' language. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but this book explains how to program in an--albeit related--language called 'PocketC'.
That in itself is not so very disappointing. However, what I did find unacceptable was the notice on Page 4 of this book which states: "Technically, PocketC does not compile code directly into the PDA's machine language--it uses a special language called byte code instead. This means that you will need PocketC to run the programs." Which means: PocketC creates files which will not work as stand-alone PDA applications (i.e., *.prc files). Any programs created with this application require a separate program (called 'PocketC runtime') to be installed on any PDA running your PocketC-created program.
Sorry. Not for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for beginners, with caveats
Review: PocketC is an excellent programming platform for Palm devices. I have used it to create simple programs, and it turns out, with little more care, can be used to create professional quality programs. This book does not show you how to create professional quality programs with PocketC. However, it is a good book to start if you want to learn programming in your own time.Personally, I find the program samples rather useless, and not at all fun. Perhaps better examples should have been used. Watch out for amateurish code! Plenty of them peppers the examples. Most annoying is rectangles intersection code. The author admits it is faulty, and instead of fixing it, provides excuses for it. Why didn't he ask his smart programmer friend on how to fix it? It's not a hard problem. Some of the slowness of the code may stem from the way CControls works, so you may do better providing your own code. A reading of Algorithm by Robert Sedgewick can prove useful. Good points: Easy reading, accessible for beginners. Good PocketC packages. STAIR principle. Bad points: Amateurish code. Lots of space padding pictures. Not all examples are useful program.
Rating:
Summary: Got me started!
Review: Programming for the Palm OS looked difficult in other books I've looked at, even with my past programming experience. This book takes every little piece of code, and explains it in detail the that you need as a beginner. Unfortunatly, I just found the book now, after all of my troubles (years) trying to self learn it.
Rating:
Summary: PocketC can create stand-alone applications...
Review: The previous reviewer is mistaken, stand-alone applications can be created with the desktop version of PocketC. This is a great book for the beginning programmer!
Rating: 
Summary: Marketing tool for PocketC
Review: This book does not make clear on its cover that it teaches you to write applets, *not* standard Palm applications. What is far worse, is that it claims it includes all the tools necessary to use the book. However, the desktop compiler refuses to work on any of the source after chapter 1 (it only supports code up to 768 characters). In order to complete the examples in the book, you must either purchase the full version (at least [more money]) of PDE, or write and compile everything on your palm top. Many other reviewers of this product apperently have been programming for a long time, and have purchased PDE already. They fail to note that the true cost of this book is [a little more] (after purchasing the full version of PDE). The book appears to be good, but this is dishonest marketing.
Rating:
Summary: Marketing tool for PocketC
Review: This book does not make clear on its cover that it teaches you to write applets, *not* standard Palm applications. What is far worse, is that it claims it includes all the tools necessary to use the book. However, the desktop compiler refuses to work on any of the source after chapter 1 (it only supports code up to 768 characters). In order to complete the examples in the book, you must either purchase the full version (at least [more money]) of PDE, or write and compile everything on your palm top. Many other reviewers of this product apperently have been programming for a long time, and have purchased PDE already. They fail to note that the true cost of this book is [a little more] (after purchasing the full version of PDE). The book appears to be good, but this is dishonest marketing.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing; not what I expected
Review: This book explains how to use the 'PocketC' programming application, which is *not* the 'C' language.
What I was especially disappointed in was the fact that 'PocketC' does not create stand-alone *.prc files which will run on a PDA device. Instead, any program created with this application must be run on the PDA *in conjunction with* a separate runtime application.
Sorry. Not for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Should be titled learn PocketC programming
Review: Yes, PocketC is a nice productive development environment for Palm - but it is based on a proprietary hybrid of the C language - and the whole book is centered around this specific development environment - if you think the book will cover standard c/c++ (e.g. using the gnu C++ compiler), you're in for a shock! Also, you have to BUY PocketC after 45 days, because it is shareware - the standard development environment offered by Palm (based on the Eclipse integrated environment & gnu c++) is FREE
| 
