The SDK lets you develop and test applications written in C++ for devices based on the Symbian platform. For this purpose, the SDK provides a range of tools, APIs, libraries, documentation, examples, and a free GNU C Compiler Embedded (GCCE) compiler to build applications for mobile devices. You can view and test applications on an emulator provided with the SDK.
The Symbian platform comes in various versions with corresponding SDKs. During the analysis and design phase of your project you must choose the target devices best suited for your application and then choose the corresponding platforms. However, in many cases applications built with one Symbian platform SDK will also work on devices based on other Symbian platform versions. For information on which platform releases the target mobile devices are based on, see the Device Specification on Forum Nokia.
Coding with C++ for Symbian has some unique features compared to standard C++. For more information, see C++ Coding Conventions.
Determine which version of the SDK you need, as follows:
Find out which Symbian platform your target devices are based on. For example, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is based on the Nokia Symbian^3 SDK. Devices based on a certain platform edition are compatible with the core software of that edition. Later platform versions may introduce new functionality as lead features (Feature Packs), but they are not allowed to introduce breaks or incompatibilities to the core software of that edition.
To develop an application for a certain mobile device, use the SDK version which corresponds to the platform edition on the mobile device. For example, to develop an application for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, use the Nokia Symbian^3 SDK. For more information on:
Symbian platform editions of mobile devices, see the Device Specifications page.
SDK versions, see the Tool Details page.
Applications developed with a particular SDK run on mobile devices that are based on the corresponding Symbian platform version. Generally, they also run on more recent platform versions, because Symbian aims to maintain backwards binary compatibility with older Symbian platform versions. For example, if you have developed an Symbian application with the Nokia Symbian^2 SDK, you can install it on a mobile device that runs the Symbian^2 platform and the Symbian^3 platform.
You can develop applications across multiple platform releases by using one base SDK.