S60 Open to new features

Coming soon to a desktop near you will be the latest version of Carbide.c++, namely version 2.0. Most of you know already that Carbide is made from a diverse set of plugins that operate on the Eclipse framework. Many of the improvements we provide come not from us but from the Eclipse community that spent countless hours adding new features to the Eclipse Ganymede release, version 3.4. Using that release as a base we added in the CDT 5.0 plug-ins as well as updated and new Carbide plug-ins. The sum of all this effort is a new Carbide.c++ release, currently v2.0B1, with release planned for later in the year..

Along with the rest of Nokia, the Carbide.c++ team has been applying Agile development methods lately and after several iterations, we've been steadily improving our process.

What does this mean to Carbide.c++ users? One of the main things this means is that our focus in involving our customers in our development process has sharpened greatly. You can be much more directly involved in making Carbide.c++ the best development tool it can be!

We've had great success for the past several releases with our beta program. Additionally, we've stepped up our focus on automated unit testing so that our nightly builds are of a much higher quality, and because of this, we've been able to make our nightly development builds available publicly. Our users can log bugs directly in our bugzilla bug tracking system, and when the bug is fixed, you can download the latest build with the fix.

So, help us make Carbide.c++ great! Get involved!

Read the press release...

It took longer than expected, but I think you'll agree that it was good of us to take our time: Carbide.c++ 1.2 is now ready and available for download.

Let me share with you the key features about this release. It introduces new features that ease Symbian development; but it also improves on a set of existing features that I think you'll find make your job easier.

(All) Build system - in many ways, the Symbian build system is a source of a lot of tooling problems for us, so for 1.1 we introduced a managed make -type system that was supposed to allow for better overall flexibility. However, the build system didn't provide us with the quick responsiveness a tool needs in order to address new reference designs as they become available, so we went back to the drawing board and implemented a build system that takes a very different approach: It simply calls into the command line tools. Although this brings some new issues, the result as a whole is an order of magnitude faster (think 10x for complex projects), and we offer a few new features as well - single file build, abld target to name a few. Oh, and importing is faster -- in fact, the more complex the project, the bigger the improvement.

(All) MMP editor - possibly the best-liked new feature by our beta group, the MMP editor provides a visual interface to the MMP file, as well as direct access to the file. It makes operations less error-prone, yet gives you full flexibility to customize the MMP. See the MMP Editor screencast for more information.

(All) Code browsing & navigation - Eclipse's C++ Development Tools project (CDT) gives us all our C/C++ specific features that we can't live without. Carbide.c++ 1.1 was based on 3.1, and as the product project went on, it turned out that we could fix a lot of long-standing bugs by migrating to CDT MS5 release, which mostly contained fixes to e.g. the indexer, which has been a thorn in the side of CDT for a while. What we didn't count on was the success of the code browsing and navigation features that came with the update. If there ever was a stealth feature that ended up being a success, this would be it.

(PRO) Power consumption analysis - Newer Nokia phones support power tracing. Install thethe Performance Investigator, run your favorite use case, and then view the CPU and power consumption profile for the use case. A "jump to source" feature means you can now jump to the line of code that was being executed at a given point in time -- so finding the code resulting in power drain is easier than ever.

(OEM) Stop-mode debugging - Those familiar with CodeWarrior OEM Edition know that an IDE is a great thing to have when working with reference hardware -- but configuring an in-circuit emulator can be tedious. With the help of Eclipse launch configurations (customized to work with Carbide.c++ & Lauterbach / Sophia ICEs), connecting to a TI H4 or an OEM wingboard is easy stuff.

(OEM) Crash debugger view - Another easier-to-use feature: If your phone has crashed, you can now dial into the crash debugger, and view the system state in the actual debugger view - no need to scroll through a long text file. ´

+ last but not least - Carbide.c++ Plug-in SDK - Time will tell the value of this one - but I expect this to be a long-term success. The plug-in SDK allows other developers to write custom tools that use APIs we've exposed in our build system and elsewhere in the tool. Tool extension writers like Macrobug will probably make good use of it. Perhaps you can, too?

Aside from the new features, we also worked hard to fix bugs. We had an awesome beta group and with their assistance and enthusiasm, were able to improve on critical areas to make the product that much better.

I'll post instructions on how to get your hands on the product separately.

 Carbide.c++ 1.2 is now out of beta, and we're finalizing the GM build for release in about two weeks.

In the meantime, Beta Release 4 (build 22) is now available for anyone to download -- so if you want to use Carbide.c++ to develop for Open C, or simply want to migrate to a better version of Carbide.c++, get it here.

And, as always, let us know what you think, and how we can make the tool better.

I'll send a note as soon as the final release of 1.2 is available.

I woke this morning to get an SMS from our marketing manager (and future Carbide.c++ product manager) Mike Trujillo saying that Carbide.c++ Professional Edition had won the Jolt Award 2007 for Best Mobile Development Tool. Yiihaa!

So what's a Jolt award anyway? it's an award handed out by Dr. Dobb's magazine every year, and the website says it's the Oscars of software tools :-)

Needless to say, we're feeling pretty good over here. The team is currently fixing bugs like mad in order to get the final release candidate built next week, and I'd venture to say this will make the final crunch all the more enjoyable.

Please join me in congratulating the engineering team for their achievement!

http://www.joltawards.com/

Carbide.c++ 1.2 has been in development since September. The product improves on some of the key areas where 1.1 users were left wanting. Most significantly, 1.2 has a completely re-designed build system that imports and builds complex projects with ease, and provides nice usability enhancements like an MMP and INF editor. It also introduces our most advanced product, the OEM Edition. Eric from NewLC has the details on the product plans...

The Alpha release of 1.2 is already available to those who have signed up to participate in the beta program. We're planning to provide a number of drops to the beta group before releasing the product (currently targeted for May 2007). If you want to participate in the beta program, you can sign up by clicking here.

Carbide.c++ 1.1 Express is a free tool for non-commercial development of Symbian C++ applications. The 1.1 version of Express updates the product to the 1.1 baseline used for the Developer & Professional Edition products released earlier this year.

Download the product here.

If you're currently using Express 1.0, you'll need to install 1.1 in a separate folder; also, I recommend using a different workspace. More details are in the release notes.

Just a quick note to update on our status in platform security tooling: The capability scanner is currently under development here at Nokia, and the certificate manager will be developed by Symbian. We're currently anticipating getting the capability scanner into beta around Christmas; final product to be available first as a plug-in for Carbide.c++ 1.1 in February, and then integrated into Carbide.c++ 1.2 in May. I haven't received any commitment from Symbian on the certificate manager, but I trust it'll be ready during Q1 as well. After that, platform security should be a little less annoying...

Our only remaining problem is the quality of the API-Capability documentation that is used as a the basis for the capability scanning. Apparently, Symbian's documentation on the subject is in pretty good shape, but our SDK documentation on the topic is a little shaky and needs improvement before we can call it a day. However, I think everyone in Nokia is feeling the platform security headache, so roadblocks are quickly being reduced.

This is a follow up to Symbian Expo notes, 1/2: Tool vendor lineup

We sat down on Tuesday after the Symbian Expo and went through the comments we got from the Expo. There was a bunch, and I don't intend to bore you with it all. However, some key feature re-prioritizations and other such stuff will take place based on comments heard on the show floor...

Family photo -- the team that built Carbide.c++ (well, save for about 5 people who were elsewhere at the time / behind the camera).