Mobile Devices Section

[joe_pool_is]

Could a new area be created for Mobile Development? (Pocket PCs, Windows Mobile 6, Windows CE)

 

I get tired of having to rely on Microsoft's MSDN forum, which often responds with something about their network being busy.

[JumpyNET]

I've been thinking of starting to program on Windows Mobile my self using Visual Basic 2008 of course. I wonder if programming for Windows Mobile is much different than programming for Windows Vista or XP?

[joe_pool_is]

The main thing you'll find is that Windows Mobile works on a reduced set of tools; however, all of the necessary requirements can generally still be met.

 

My VB is rusty, so the syntax may not be correct, but take this example:

 

This line will not compile under Windows Mobile:

Dim text as String = "123@domain.com"
If (text.Contains("@domain.com") = True) Then
 ' do stuff
End If

 

Why won't this compile under Windows Mobile? Answer: It does not have the bloated method "Contains".

 

So, how would you check your text, you ask? The answer is to use a more fundamental check like this:

Dim text as String = "123@domain.com"
If (-1 < text.IndexOf("@domain.com") = True) Then
 ' do stuff
End If

 

Obviously, these are smaller, more efficient calls, or they would not be the features chosen for the compact Mobile edition, which have limited space and much slower processors.

 

On the plus side, once you get accustomed to coding for Mobile applications, you'll find yourself using the smaller/faster calls in all of your code - even for Windows applications!