DEVELOPING mobile applications used to be really complicated, even for experienced programmers, but that has changed today, according to Microsoft Corp.
Tan Loke-Uei, technical product manager of Microsoft’s mobile and embedded devices division, said that several years ago, even the simplest mobile application needed many hours or work and lines of complicated codes.
“But today, the latest software tools and technologies make things relatively simpler for software developers, he said during a talk on creating mobile applications using the new managed application programming interface (API) for Windows Mobile 5.0.
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Tan Loke-Uei, technical product manager of Microsoft Corp’s mobile and embedded devices division |
Tan gave an example: He showed a program that uses the API to retrieve the GPS (global positioning system) coordinates of a smartphone running Windows Mobile 5.0 and coupled with a GPS device.
The program only had 10 lines of code. Without the new managed API, he said, it would have had several hundred lines of code.
“Mobile applications involving GPS used to be such a headache (for software developers) but now, it is so simple,” he added.
According to Tan, the API is like a collection of common codes that can be used and reused to write different programs.
Microsoft, he said, has been building APIs for years. “We abstract all those difficult parts to make life easier for developers,” he added.
To further illustrate his point, Tan showed a program designed to send an SMS (short message service) message via a cellphone.
It took more than 20 lines of complex C++ programming codes to achieve what could be done using only two lines of C# codes with Windows Mobile 5.0 SDK and the new managed API.
“Remember how we (developers) used to spend hours trying to do this? Now, all it takes is just two lines,” Tan said.
He said the advancements in technology allow not only developers to quickly accomplish more, but also makes the development process more accessible to less technically inclined – such as anyone wanting to create software for their own mobile device.
For such programmers, he said, the best place to start would be the Windows Mobile Developers Wiki website (http://msdn.microsoft.com/mobility/wiki).
Tan was speaking at Microsoft’s Mobile and Embedded Developers Conference 2006 in Kuala Lumpur recently.
More than 1,000 Windows mobile application developers from various parts of the country attended the event, which is held annually.
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