Create a Nokia 770 Program using C++/Visual Basic Possible?
 

Is it possible to create a program on the Nokia 770 using C++ or Visual Basic? I heard that Visual Basic is possible, but I'm not sure how to install it on my computer and/or Nokia 770.

Visual Basic is a definite no. (Although if you like BASIC, there was SmallBASIC but that doesn't - IIRC - have the visual form editor).

C++ is possible using the gtkmm bindings which are currently in development.

There's also Python + Glade which may do what you want, and give you experience in a more "real world"/"professional" language than VB.

aflegg is right : if you're just getting started (as it sounds from your post), one of the easiest ways to get quick results is to learn Python and use Gustavo Barbieri's Eagle framework.

What kind of program?

A few questions...

What EXACTLY is SmallBASIC?

What is the gtkmm bindings?

Can you program in C++ using Visual Studio, etc. when the gtkmm bindings come out of development?

C under a Windows box is going to use different libraries, etc. than the linux based 770. The other thing is the 770 has an ARM based processor unlike your desktop.

I'm average with C/C++ and Linux and I'm still a far ways off from spitting anything out for the 770. I might take a stab at Python later but not for now.

Anyway, what you might want to do is get a "live" distro of Linux like Ubuntu or Knoppix (just burn them to a CD and boot off of it - you'll be in Linux without having to screw with your harddrive) and play around. I'm not sure if they have the dev packages installed but Ubuntu might.

It's a start anyway to get familiar with that side of things.

G'luck!

So what languages is maemo and other organizations using to create programs for the 770?..

Visual Basic
 

In theory it should be possible to write some kind of application using Visual Basic.Net, provided you're writing managed code, because Mono, the open source .Net clone for Linux, runs on the 770. You'd have to really know what you're doing, though, and I don't think there are any Maemo bindings for Mono, so you wouldn't have access to any of the normal Nokia 770 user interface elements.

I would definately recommend starting with python development, as that way you can develop in windows and just copy the files to your 77 to test them.

Everyone's saying python so I guess I'll try it... *sulk* Too bad no one knows (or tried C++)...

Lots of people know, and have tried C++. For example there are gtkmm (C++ bindings) for Hildon out there, but somewhat sub par AIUI. There have been numerous threads on maemo-developers about it, including one today.

The Maemo 2.0 (Mistral) roadmap mentions making it easier to use other languages such as C++:

http://maemo.org/platform/docs/roadmap.html

HTH,

Andrew

Of course, it's possible to write apps for nokia with C++. For starters, read my instructions [1]. Also, my flashcard program [2] is written in C++ and runs on nokia. Also, I think minisip was another C++ project that might or might not have converted to IT2006.

What others were hinting to is that you have a steep learning curve ahead of you if you want to write GUI apps in general and ones using Gtk C++ wrapper in particular. The basic toolkit is Gtk+. The Gtkmm is a C++ wrapper around it. Plus nokia people have created an additional destkop-related hildon widget set to accomodate portable nature of 770. The C++ wrapper for that layer is naturally hildonwidgetsmm.

The good news is if you like to learn, the skillset you pick up along the way is rather useful. With just a little care, you can successfully write C++ apps for Linux desktop, nokia, and Windows.

good luck,

-Vlad

[1] http://home.comcast.net/~3rdshift/ar...emo-Gtkmm.html

[2] http://granule.sourceforge.net/