Palm OS Developer Suite 1.0 Alpha Available

Posted By: Ryan Thursday, June 3, 2004 12:03:16 PM

PalmSource has announced the availability of the alpha-testing release of Palm OS Developer Suite (PODS), version 1.0. This is a new collection of tools supporting software development for Palm OS Cobalt and Palm OS Garnet.

Developers can download this release here. It is available as a single ZIP file (230MB) or as a split ZIP file (twelve 20MB parts). There are separate source code downloads for components distributed under open source licenses. This release is only intended to run on systems with Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP; other host operating systems, including older versions of Windows, are not supported at this time.

This release should not be installed over an existing PODS 0.1.0 or 0.1.1 setup. It is strongly recommended users uninstall that version before installing this alpha release. Projects created in older versions of PODS will need to be recreated.

Key Features of PODS 1.0:

support for development for Palm OS Protein APIs (x86 and ARM), 68K, and PACE Native Objects
based on the open-source Eclipse IDE, version 2.1.2 and Eclipse C/C++ Developer Tools, version 1.2.1.
Managed Make support eliminates need to manually edit makefiles
integrated debugging support for Palm OS Simulators, Palm OS Emulator (POSE), and most devices with serial or USB connectivity
standalone Palm OS Resource Editor with support for XRD resource format
integrated build environment and command-line build tools
bundled SDKs and simulators for Palm OS Garnet (5.4 and earlier) and Palm OS Cobalt (6.0.1)

This is an alpha-testing release, covered under the Prototype Agreement of the PalmSource developer program. PalmSource is planning on an official 1.0 release later this summer. There are known bugs listed in the release notes that will be fixed, PalmSource is interested in having you to report any problems you find with PODS using their bug reporting form.

Thanks to Ben Combee for the tip.

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Tapwave

Fammy @ 6/3/2004 1:01:23 PM #

Hey Ben, any chance the Tapwave SDK will work with this? (Now or in the future). Wishful thinking on my part, I'm sure.

-- Fammy

RE: Tapwave

bcombee @ 6/3/2004 2:10:30 PM #

The Tapwave SDK may work for 68K apps, but Tapwave Native Application development is not supported in the 1.0 version of PODS. You'll still need CodeWarrior for Palm OS to do that for now.

--
Ben Combee
http://palmos.combee.net - PDA programmer weblog

I will start develop Palm App if..

johnwong @ 6/3/2004 1:32:00 PM #

I will start develop Palm application if PalmSource released their Application Development Suite for free like Microsoft!

Time to get started

bradhaak @ 6/3/2004 1:40:50 PM #

Big news - It is free.

All you have to do is register as a developer.

RE: I will start develop Palm App if..

JKingGrim @ 6/3/2004 2:59:31 PM #

And thats free too! Good luck! ;)

RE: I will start develop Palm App if..

Winter_ @ 6/3/2004 3:07:02 PM #

Erm... I think free options have been available for some time before this?

http://www.palmos.com/dev/tools/gcc/

RE: I will start develop Palm App if..

rsc1000 @ 6/4/2004 8:20:20 PM #

>>Erm... I think free options have been available for some time before this?

yes - but they weren't really supported before this. Codewarrior was basically 'the official dev enviroment' of Palm OS - now that is changing because palmsource needs a free, good compiler/ide solution to compete with MS. Eclipse is good, supported by many companies/groups, and is opensource - so its a great solution. GCC was usable before but a pain in the ass when it came to doing certain things. there was no dev enviroment for gcc that was supported well by palmsource. Anyhoot - this will be much better.

Other Platforms?

epall @ 6/3/2004 9:25:58 PM #

Is there any progress on porting this SDK to Linux? I run only Linux, so I'm unable to develop for Protein until a port happens. Will PalmSource ever do that?

RE: Other Platforms?

slowman @ 6/4/2004 3:27:31 AM #

Eclipse is based on Java technology, it could be run in any plateform, I guess.

RE: Other Platforms?

bcombee @ 6/4/2004 4:40:46 AM #

The 1.0 release of Palm OS Developer Suite is only for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. As announced at the PalmSource Developer Conference back in February, we are looking at ways to support developers who use Mac OS X and Linux, but nothing will be available as part of this release of the PalmSource tools.

--
Ben Combee
http://palmos.combee.net - PDA programmer weblog

RE: Other Platforms?

Winter_ @ 6/4/2004 5:11:37 AM #

But Eclipse and the CDT are both available on Linux and OS X. I know the Palm emulator/simulator (no time now to check that, sorry) is not available on those platforms (yet?). So, is the POD not available because of the missing sim/emulator? Or is there anything else missing?

RE: Other Platforms?

Winter_ @ 6/4/2004 5:41:43 AM #

OK, I checked. The emulator (<=OS 4)is available, the simulator (OS 5) is not - yet.

RE: Other Platforms?

Zeno @ 6/4/2004 1:55:11 PM #

I know a couple of guys working at PalmSource who are actually "Mac OS X users"...

It would be really great if you guys could make the POD work on OSX, really.

Please!

--
zeno
http://zenonez.com

Treo 600 SDK

alex_mathews @ 6/4/2004 5:32:02 PM #

Is the Treo 600 SDK compatible with the current POD, or is this only meant to work with Cobalt and Garnet?

RE: Treo 600 SDK

bcombee @ 6/4/2004 7:37:36 PM #

We have not tested the Treo 600 SDK extensively with PODS 1.0 alpha, but early indications are that there are problems with it, mainly due to clashes between items that are defined in the new Palm OS Garnet SDK headers that were previously defined in the Treo header files. We are working on getting these problems reconciled, but I don't have any timelines yet.

--
Ben Combee
http://palmos.combee.net - PDA programmer weblog

Software Development Leadtime

SeldomVisitor @ 6/7/2004 3:37:01 PM #

If this is just released and remains buggy (ie an Alpha release rether than final) doesn't this strongly suggest there will be no Garnet/Cobalt devices anytime soon?

RE: Software Development Leadtime

Token User @ 6/7/2004 4:03:54 PM #

Garnet/Cobalt devices can still be developed for with CodeWarrior. My understanding is that by using the Eclipse IDE, a FREE integrated toolchain is available that can be used to develop Palm code.

Yeah, I know GCC compilers have been here for years, but it really is a pain to use in comparison to CodeWarrior.

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

RE: Software Development Leadtime

SeldomVisitor @ 6/7/2004 5:02:03 PM #

Nope! I'm still going strong on TreoCentral - in fact, check my PalmInfoCenter post just made titled "Yup"!

I'm still trying to find out how many TREO 600s have been sold to end-customers - nobody's really talking but it looks from all evidence like the TREO 600 is selling just about as well as all the other prior TREOs - that is, about 10,000-12,000 per month.

Just as a device that remains strictly for early-adopters should be expected to.

Maybe someday we'll find out, maybe not.

But lacking the evidence of large sell-THROUGH, that's what one should expect.

RE: Software Development Leadtime

;-o @ 6/7/2004 5:22:44 PM #

The numbers I've seen suggest you're right. The initial (non)rollout resulted in only a couple thousand unit being moved in October. They ramped up in December, but have only recently passed the 100,000 mark in sales to real customers.

I thought Treocentral had banned you. You've upset a lot of people there by cutting through the fanboy nonsense and asking critical questions.

RE: Software Development Leadtime

bcombee @ 6/8/2004 1:09:40 PM #

The 0.1.1 technology preview of PODS was released back in February along with the Palm OS Cobalt 6.0 simulator, and that release was usable for doing early development of Palm OS Protein applications (the name of the API supported for native apps on Palm OS Cobalt). This release improves on the features and fixes a lot of bugs in that original product, but the core compiler/linker/headers for Cobalt development have been pretty stable, with most of the changes related to improving C++ support and optimizations.

--
Ben Combee
http://palmos.combee.net - PDA programmer weblog

Where Do All The Devs Hang Out?

mjang @ 6/8/2004 2:55:47 PM #

Where do all the developers hang out? With some markets, there's a ton of weblogs you can read. I'm aware of only a couple for Palm Development: Ben Combee's & Lonnon Foster's.

I'm talking aobut places that house general chatter, tutorials, etc. Is there a secondary place/community to go for info like this other than PalmSource/PalmOne, etc?

TIA

RE: Where Do All The Devs Hang Out?

bcombee @ 6/8/2004 4:50:56 PM #

The majority of developer discussion is on the developer forums hosted by PalmSource. See http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/ for details on subscribing and archives.

--
Ben Combee
http://palmos.combee.net - PDA programmer weblog