Announcing WingX for the Pocket PC

I just think it will take time to shake out .Net in general, and CF in
particular. I agree that many of the memory issue are the results of poor
resource management. Unfortunately an environment with a GC tends to let
programmers thing they can forget about explicitly managing resources.

I am still using the older C++ compilers for my PPC work. Still works,
still requires a lot of steps, but the code it tight and runs very fast.
What sort of dev environment are you using?

jerry

"John T" wrote in message
ws.com...
"JerryK" wrote in message

There are many memory leaks and other issue with the CF. Check the
newsgroup microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.compactframework for the
details. The CF is getting better, but still has a ways to go.

I've been following that group for a few months, but I wouldn't go so far
as
to say it's "unfortunate" a developer chose to use the CF. Most of the
memory issues (many reports of "leaks" are not actual leaks) I've seen
have
been due to either custom unmanaged code or poor resource management
(usually an indication of poor development habits gained in desktop
development).

I will grant you that the CF needs to improve, though. The lack of
tooltips
and context-sensitive help, for instance, are quite significant since they
are requirements for the logo program. Therefore, any CF-based app cannot
be certified on the PocketPC/Windows Mobile platform.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/tknoFlyer
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"JerryK" wrote in message


I am still using the older C++ compilers for my PPC work. Still
works,
still requires a lot of steps, but the code it tight and runs very
fast.
What sort of dev environment are you using?

Has been eVB/C, but I'm moving to CF for compatibility with desktop stuff.
We'll see how it pans out. For the most part, C#/CF is far superior to the
eVB stuff I had but, as you say, isn't quite as tight and speedy as a
well-written C++ app.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/tknoFlyer
_______________

JerryK wrote:
I just think it will take time to shake out .Net in general, and CF in
particular. I agree that many of the memory issue are the results of
poor
resource management. Unfortunately an environment with a GC tends to let
programmers thing they can forget about explicitly managing resources.

I am still using the older C++ compilers for my PPC work. Still works,
still requires a lot of steps, but the code it tight and runs very fast.
What sort of dev environment are you using?

Jerry,

While this is probably not the best forum in which to discuss the merits of
the Compact Framework, I'd like to add a little to this thread and how it
helped in the development of WingX.

The most obvious advantages a no bad pointers, no leaked memory, no
crashes! These become especially important on handheld devices where leaked
memory and crashes are unacceptable. In addition, we believe our
development time is very much shorter using C# over C++ and this allows us
to get new features to customers in the shortest time. Moreover, since we
ship one EXE for all platforms, we reduce potential bugs on the numerous PDA
platforms; i.e if your PDA has the Compact Framework, WingX will run on it
irrespective of the CPU type - the same cannot be said for C and C++.

The first release of the CF was in pretty good shape, and Microsoft has
since released Service Pack 1 (downloadable from
http://www.hiltonsoftware.com/Download.html) to fix several bugs and improve
performance. In fact, this release will be pre-installed in Pocket PC 2003
so the newer PDAs, phones, and other devices will have the CF pre-installed.

We have found the Compact Framework to be very solid, and we have yet to
discover any leaked resources or other major problems.

Thanks,

Hilton
Hilton Software
http://www.hiltonsoftware.com

I agree this is probably not the right place. But I was curious if you have
been running any of the profilers like .Net Memory Profiler or Application
profiler against your app. I have done this wit several apps and was
suprised about lingering references.

"JerryK" wrote in message
...
I agree this is probably not the right place. But I was curious if you
have
been running any of the profilers like .Net Memory Profiler or Application
profiler against your app. I have done this wit several apps and was
suprised about lingering references.

Keep in mind that none of those profilers are 100% accurate. False
positives are a fact of life with them.

Keep in mind that none of those profilers are 100% accurate. False
positives are a fact of life with them.

Agreed. But, when you invoke the same object 3 times and the reference
count climbs by 3 that is telling you something.

JerryK wrote:
I agree this is probably not the right place. But I was curious if you
have
been running any of the profilers like .Net Memory Profiler or Application
profiler against your app. I have done this wit several apps and was
suprised about lingering references.

You probably know this, but... The Garbage Collector (GC) in languages like
C# and Java are optimized to spend as little time as possible freeing
objects. One such optimization is to not free an object unless the memory
it occupies is required; i.e. why spend time freeing 10K worth of objects if
you have 500M free? Therefore, it's almost safe to say that in a VM you
will have unreferenced objects. That is not a leak, the GC will reclaim
that memory if/when if needs to.

FYI: I read the Compact Framework newsgroups everyday and I don't believe I
have seen any leaks as a result of the Microsoft Virtual Machine. As you
mention, memory can be leaked inside a badly written app. WingX is 100%
pure C#, and we are quite confident about its 'long-term' behavior.

Thanks,

Support Team
Hilton Software LLC
Makers of WingX Aviation Software
http://www.hiltonsoftware.com

Hi,

Hilton Software is pleased to announce that Version 1.1.1 is now
downloadable via http://www.hiltonsoftware.com/Download.html. This latest
version builds on the already comprehensive feature set of WingX by adding
Wind Calculations to the route planning. True Course (TC), Wind Correction
Angle (WCA), True Heading (TH), and Magnetic Heading (MH) are now displayed
per leg. In addition, the Average Ground Speed is shown along with the wind
effect; e.g. "0:12 faster". By combining wind information with a current
FAA database of airports, VORs, and NDBs, together with very easy-to-use
popup menus, route planning can be completed in a a matter of seconds.

WingX features currently include comprehensive weight and balance
calculations, sunrise/sunset information for any airport, expiration of
medicals, BFRs, etc, and much more. The Model Database has also been
updated to include numerous gliders. We've also added the Piper Tomahawk
and others to the growing list of supported aircraft models.

Try our free demo at http://www.hiltonsoftware.com

Hilton Software LLC
Makers of WingX Aviation Software
http://www.hiltonsoftware.com