Rating: 
Summary: Not so much programming as advertising.
Review: Currently there are several comercial packages available for Palm OS programming. CodeWarrior is probably the most popular for those who can deal with actual code, and Pendragon Forms is nice for those who only want a tool to create specialized DB apps and the like. However, if you are looking to learn actual code programming you'll want to spend your money someplace else. This book gives a fairly thorough intro to 4 major packages with a little how-to added in, but this is harldy a book on programming. It more or less is a catalouge with examples.If a person looks at it in this light, however, spending the money to buy this book may save one from blowing a tremendous wad on a package you can't or don't want to use. It also serves as a barometer for how far PalmOS programming environments have come (in the commercial realm, at least).
Rating: 
Summary: Just what I wanted
Review: I liked it. What more can I say. The author has a great, conversational style that made reading this *thick* book a breeze. He obviously understands what it takes to develop Palm software as the text is littered with great tips for first timers. I also like the fact that several development environments were covered, as I initially didn't really know what was available. I've done some C before so I think Codewarrior is for me. Another reviewer mentioned problems building the sample applications - I didn't find this at all, maybe I have a later printing of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not real programming
Review: If you are serious about developing for the Palm OS platform look at other books like the one from O'Reilly (ASIN 1565928563). This book is very lightweight and only covers forms "programming" but will not teach you how to join the growing Palm OS developer community. It is not the first book from Sams that I checkout, I dont know how they let this one out.
Rating:
Summary: Not for Mac based developers
Review: If you're a PC developer, this book is OK for you. If you are a Mac (or UNIX?) based developer, stay away from this book. About 1/2 of the book is dedicated to forms development packages that only work on a PC platform.
Rating:
Summary: A question about Satellite Forms...
Review: Is this a good book for learning how to *script* in Satellite Forms? Or do you have any other recos for books that handle this subject well? I rated the book without even reading it - coz it was required in order to write this review... Thanks!
Rating:
Summary: Mac users stay away !
Review: Jumping in the Palm Pilot bandwagon seems to be the new trend for some opportunists who see in this yuppie toy (though Palm Pilots are not just that) a new way to make fast money. There is nothing to say about the style of the book: it is well written and quite pleasant to read. The first chapters about the history and the fundamentals of PalmOS are even interesting. The problem is here: this book is useless for someone who is already experienced in software development and wishes to write software (or adapt its own programs) for the PalmOS platform. Chapters about CodeWarrior are totally useless. This book didn't learn me anything about how to program my Palm Pilot. And worst of all: the included CD-ROM contains NO software for the Macintosh (though the Palm pilot is the ideal companion of the Mac). Actually, the only relevant information in this book is the URL toward a website where Mac users can download a free version of CodeWarrior including excellent tutorials. So don't waste your money in this book if you are a Mac user...
Rating:
Summary: What it isn't..
Review: This book is a compendium of introductions to 3 different application programmers interfaces (API)s. In each case it is just enough to wet the appetite. Each Section includes a dummies level introduction to the GUI, and then woefully inadequate description of the API. For example, event handling is barely touched. Though fully qualified object paths (self taught OOP, forgive any incorrect terminology) are recomended, they are not used in the examples. This serves to obfuscate the many snippits of what; if rendered fully; might have been usefull code examples. This should have been 3 books, or 3 times longer. The attention to detail indicates why the author is writing books, rather than code. Written in 24 hours would be a more appropriate title. The second star was earned by being a relatively effective 2 day intro to the relative APIs. But it should have been titled as an intro. This books byline "When you only have time for the answers" is a vague attempt at humor as far as I can tell. As the contents leave more questions than they answer.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent book with a few problems...
Review: This book is really for the developer interested in Satellite Forms or Metroworks. The Pendragon section is minimal at best and the CSPad is even less. As a potential Satellite Forms developer, I used this to evaluate the product. Unfortunately, the Trial Edition of Satellite Forms is v 2.02 and the sample code on the CD is written with a more recent version and is therefore impossible to open. Satellite Forms is currently at 3.1 - 3.5 so they're delivering a significantly older version. The upside of this is that Satellite Forms TE 2.02 allows saving of projects, something that the current TE does not. The Metroworks section is very light and significantly under emphasizes both the power and complexity that this tool wields. Conclusion...a fair book that exposes some things very well (a great reference on Satellite Forms, esp. their ActiveX conduit) but leaves a lot of things left out.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended by a fellow Palm enthusiast
Review: This book was recommended to me by a fellow Palm enthusiast at a recent Palm user get-together. I'm so pleased with this book that I thought I'd pass on the recommendation. I was looking for a book to give me a better understanding on the Palm and how it ticks. I'm not an engineer by trade, but know enough to be dangerous :-) So I wanted to start writing some simple programs to keep myself amused and off the streets. This book guided me gently into Palm programming by first outlining some of the history of the Palm, and the reasons why certain design decisions were made. The author certainly has a high level of understanding, and obviously researched this book quite well (though the phrasing in spots is a little contrived). I like the coverage of both Satellite Forms and Codewarrior, though felt the token chapter on CBasPad (a BASIC interpretor) could be dropped. All in all I learnt alot about the Palm and how to develop for it, and defintely feel it is worth the money I spent on it.
Rating:
Summary: A worthwhile resource for new PalmOS programmers
Review: Unlike the prior reviewer I actually have the book in front of me! This book was good value for money for me because it introduced me to some programming environments I was unaware of, and I found many useful tips and snippets in the examples. The book was easy to read, and the examples were easy for me to understand. Having previously read the O'Reilly book I found the sample application in this book to be slightly easier to follow, being more straightforward in it's design. The content on programming Satellite Forms Extensions and the example were also very valuable to me. The book does not cover conduit programming in C/C++, however this is a fairly advanced topic that the O'Reilly book does address particularly well. I would have given it 5 stars if there hadn't been quite so many turns of phrase throughout the book which suggest that Palm programming is as easy as breathing, but I have my life and so it didn't bother me. In summary, I think the book is a very worthwhile buy for beginning to intermediate programmers.
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