Talking with Gargi Das, Python developer with an eye on LBS and embedded systems

Today Nokia Devs talks with Gargi Das, an enthusiastic Nokia developer from India. If you are a Forum Nokia Community member, you may know Gargi (a.k.a. gaba88) for his excellent contributions, especially in the Python for S60 area.

ND: Welcome Gargi, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Thanks, I am a Software Engineer from India. I am an Nokia Enthusiast and a Forum Nokia Champion too. I love writing applications for Nokia devices. I carry a expertise in getting some good Location Based solutions and GIS, apart from that I also write applications for IPhone and Samsung Devices.

Generally I am fond of Bollywood Music and Movies

ND: Which platforms and technologies do you use for mobile development on Nokia devices?

I have almost used all technologies (except Java) that Nokia provides to write applications for its devices. I started with the open source Python, continued with Symbian C++ using carbide.c++, and I’m still developing apps in Symbian c++. During for a sort period of time I used Aptana studio and javascript to develop some WRT Widgets. Currently I am developing applications using the new Nokia Qt SDK and Qt for S60.

ND: When have you started to develop for Nokia devices, and which are the main differences when developing an app today, compared to when you started?

I wrote my first code for mobile devices which was in Python during my early college days, in mid of 2006. The first Nokia device I used to test my application was the Nokia 7610 which was cool device that time. Through out my college days I wrote several applications using Python, JavaScript and Symbian c++.

Nowadays developing applications for mobile is a part of my profession, and the best part compared to the past regards resources: today lots and lots of resources are available to learn new stuffs which makes a developer’s life bit easy. Apart from that, the options to develop for different kind of platforms have widely opened out, with the presence of other smartphone OS in the market.

ND: Have you published, or do you plan to publish apps on the Ovi Store?

As of yet I have not published any apps on Ovi Store, but as recently Nokia has allowed individual developers to publish applications on the Ovi store, I am developing some apps using the new Qt SDK and as soon as that are finished I am going to make then live on the OVI Store.

ND: Can you describe your Calls Info app?

The main objective of this application is to give a detailed analysis of money spent by the user on his or her mobile phone. Calls info gives a graphical analysis of outgoing calls and incoming calls by which the user can know to whom he is making the most calls and from which caller he is getting the maximum calls.

There is analysis of the calls and their cost which will make the user aware of his or her cost details. If we talk about postpaid customers in India, they don’t get the knowledge of their bill instantly if they want, but by using this application the postpaid customers can easily know the total money he has spent. Apart from the cost analyzing objective the application has the objective to make the user aware of his or her location on which he or she has made a call or received a call.

ND: You have a great experience with Python for S60: which are the pros and cons in using this technology, in your opinion?

As I have told previously Python was the language using which I started developing applications for mobile devices, I helped and still helping lot of people at the Forum Nokia Python section, I also wrote some tutorials for newbie’s which helped them to start developing applications using Python for S60.
The Best part of writing applications using Python for S60 devices is its rapidness, Python for S60 drastically decreases the development time of an application compared to other platforms and at the same time its still functionally powerful.
The bad part is that Python needs a runtime on the backend to make the applications work and the runtimes are not shipped with the devices, so the deployment and distribution of applications become a bit difficult, which makes Python a bad choice for writing commercial applications.
Anyway, if I get any chance I will more than love to write applications using Python for S60.

ND: Generally speaking, which are the biggest hurdles you face when developing for Nokia devices, and which the major benefits?

To be very honest there are quite a few hurdles when developing applications for Nokia devices and at the same time there are lots of benefits which makes the developer happy and enjoy the development.
Talking about the hurdles when using Symbian C++, which was the main platform to write applications for Nokia devices, the bad point was that, if you are a beginner, then by no means you are going to love developing apps using Symbian C++ and, apart from that, development time was also an issue. But with Qt for S60 I hope that these shortcomings will be overcome, as Qt drastically decreases your applications development time, and learning Qt is simple too.
Talking about more benefits, Nokia Developer offerings and support is one of the best in through out the mobile ecosystem

ND: Is there something you’d like to see in Nokia devices or technologies, that you haven’t seen yet?

To start writing this let me remind you all that I am a very big Nokia Enthusiast. I am using Nokia Devices since 4 years and as a user I love those devices. But there are certain things which Nokia has missed out and I hope those things will be back to Nokia soon.

If I talk about features in a device then I can firmly say no devices can be compared with Nokia one based on its features, but recently Nokia has failed to create some innovations and a very good UX, I hope with the upcoming S^3 , S^4 and MeeGo Nokia will strongly fight back and will be on top as always.

ND: Please share with us your impressions about the general mobile ecosystem, and how you see it in the next few years.

We all developers know that this Mobile Eco-System is growing at a very fast rate. We as developers have lots of option to choose a platform and language to give some ideas a practical sense: some factors like ease of development and a better marketplace to distribute the applications play a major role in making a ecosystem very effective and grow rich.
The good thing about the ecosystem is that every one here is taking a step to make developers life very easy and I guess they know what amount of importance developers carry for a particular ecosystem.
The main challenge I personally see as a developer in this mobile ecosystem is the level of fragmentation already occurred and I if I see the future I don’t see this going down at any stage, so we as a developers need to work out on some thing which helps all of us to fight up this fragmentation issue.

The next thing I am going to tell is that Nokia, and particularly Forum Nokia is doing an excellent job in reaching out to the developers, helping out in any manner and form they can. This point gives Nokia a special point in my thoughts and I know whatever be the challenges, Nokia will definitely come up front.

Last but not the least I will thank the Nokia Devs’ guys for giving me a chance to express my thoughts and they all are doing a excellent job and it was just a small help from my side to them.