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<concept id="GUID-2DC89F9D-30E8-5260-8850-53E4152EE3CF" xml:lang="en"><title>Finding

your way around</title><shortdesc>Read this page to learn about the contents and structure of the

library.</shortdesc><prolog><metadata><keywords/></metadata></prolog><conbody>

<section id="GUID-91A35BDC-92E4-47D6-8A04-C6E0C444C484"><title>The platform structure and APIs</title> <p>The <xref href="GUID-32E29020-1956-461A-B79A-1492E06049E7.dita">Symbian

guide</xref> provides introductory documents to the platform as a whole, and

guides that describe the major areas of the platform in depth. </p><p>The

Symbian platform is a large system, and contains hundreds of C++ classes and

thousands of member functions. Like most complex systems, it is easiest to

divide it into large areas, and gradually to narrow your focus down to the

areas that are most important to your tasks. </p><p>The <xref href="http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Symbian_System_Model" scope="external">Symbian System Model</xref> organises the components of the

Symbian platform into a layered software architecture. The guides in this

library are also structured around this architecture. The guides describe

the key technology and architectural concepts of the area, and show the key

ways to use its classes.</p> <p>Note: Before the System Model was introduced,

the Symbian platform used another architectural view based on large divisions

called subsystems. Some documentation has not yet been changed to use the

System Model rather than subsystems. </p> </section>

<section id="GUID-5C4DC90E-DB65-4EB7-B271-D64D5FC5A065"><title>Newcomers to the Symbian platform</title> <p>For those developing

on the Symbian platform for the first time, the <xref href="GUID-35D7EEFC-B2E4-5444-8875-2A24790E08C2.dita">Essential

Idioms</xref> section describes the distinctive programming idioms and conventions

of the Symbian platform. </p> </section>

<section id="GUID-0AA83743-82BC-473B-ABFD-20FFD6AB6485"><title>Examples</title> <p>The <xref href="GUID-270C96B0-4BDF-5A18-A8FE-FA4F78BB34EE.dita">Examples</xref> section

gives instructions for building and using the large set of C++ example projects

that accompany the library. Projects include examples that demonstrate the

use of fundamental Symbian platform classes, and many examples showing how

to use particular Symbian platform C++ APIs. </p> <p>Example code is provided

for illustrative and demonstration purposes, and should not be assumed to

be useable as product code. </p></section>

<section id="GUID-C5687256-B657-4D29-B280-1837D4F991AE"><title>Tools</title><p>The library does not include documentation

for most tools, which are usually delivered separately from the Symbian platform

code. See the <xref href="http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Tools" scope="external">Tools</xref> section of the <xref href="http://developer.symbian.org/" scope="external">Symbian Developer Community</xref> website.</p><p>The <xref href="GUID-A837D8F6-B9D3-5119-8C63-51772B388999.dita">Symbian Tools And Utilities</xref> section

documents the tools that are delivered with the platform. In particular, the <xref href="GUID-B21141D4-3BFE-59C9-8D5F-147A93BE1C95.dita">Build Tools Guide</xref> and

the <xref href="GUID-49397CFD-955A-5DF6-9251-368C44224966.dita">Build Tools Reference</xref> document

the <cmdname>abld</cmdname>/<cmdname>bldmake</cmdname> (SBSv1) command line

build tools, and explain the project file formats. </p></section>

</conbody></concept>