Symbian C++ Toolkit announced, iPhone and Android support soon

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Mobile developers will be pleased to learn that Recursion Software has announced the availability of a C++ Toolkits Symbian bundle. The cross-platform, mobile and embedded app development tools specialist took the opportunity at the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment Expo 2009 to announce that C++ libraries for the iPhone and Android platforms would be forthcoming.

The Symbian C++ Toolkit promises to deliver a rich array of libraries, templates, and code samples to help the coder to create high performance applications requiring sophisticated computing and information handling functions while retaining a small program size. It comprises a total of five separate toolkits including Communications and Foundations, Standard and Extended Template Libraries (STL/ETL), Math, plus a collection of more than 500 example programs.

This Symbian implementation is just the latest in a long line of the Recursion code base, a code base that has been compiled more than a million times over the last four years.

Bob DeAnna, CTO, Recursion Software said "Symbian-based handsets from Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, Sharp and others represent a vast and vital market. These new tools will allow our many existing customers to extend their market reach by bringing their desktop, server and embedded applications to the many millions of Symbian device users, and will enable Symbian developers to bring their mobile apps to millions more new customers who use the many other platforms we already support. And with our planned releases for other C++ enabled mobile phones, we will make the promise of 'write once, run everywhere' a reality for mobile devices."

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As noted, that announcement appealed to anyone holding a Symbian C++ codebase and hoping to move it onto newer phones. For readers who arrive here years later, the practical question is not the marketing claim but: how to reuse that C++ work with modern iOS and Android toolchains — and whether it’s worth the effort.

Keep business logic portable; keep UI and OS calls out of it. Build a small, well-documented C++ core (pure standard C++ where possible) and expose a thin platform “glue” layer for each OS: JNI/C++ for Android and an Objective‑C++ (.mm) bridge for iOS. Use a single cross‑platform build system (CMake + platform toolchain files) so you can produce Android .so libraries with the NDK and static/dynamic libraries for iOS without duplicating algorithms. (developer.android.com)

Reality check: Symbian’s commercial role faded after Nokia’s 2011 strategic move away from it, so Symbian‑only targets are niche today; investments are usually better spent on Android/iOS integration or on platform‑agnostic back ends. Recursion still maintains C++ toolkit materials and white papers for embedded/enterprise use, so their libraries can be useful for algorithm reuse — but plan to write platform glue and to rework any UI or platform‑specific services. (globenewswire.com)

Start small: pick one core module, write CMake rules, build for one ABI on Android and one target on iOS, then add logging, memory checks, and unit tests. Expect work around packaging, signing, and runtime C++ ABI/runtime differences; test on real devices and automate builds. The original CTIA-era coverage is a useful historical reference, but follow the official Android and Apple docs when you port. ()

Key takeaways: treat Recursion’s toolkit (or any legacy C++ library) as a reusable core, not a drop‑in cross‑platform UI stack; invest in small, well‑tested glue layers and CI to keep the multi‑platform builds sane.

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