14 DAY TRIAL // Developers of applications for Symbian S60 mobile phones have now the possibility to download the latest final version of Python for S60, namely version 2.0.0. The new release comes as a stable version, and includes a nice range of new features when compared with the previous 1.9.7 release. Not to mention that its developers note that this is an officially signed release of the development kit, which is meant to run on S60 3rd edition, S60 3rd edition FP1, S60 3rd edition FP2 and S60 5th edition devices.
When it comes to the release notes of Python for the S60 2.0.0 release, the list includes: - Repeat support added in 4-way directional pad; - Lot of memory leaks in the interpreter code are fixed; - appuifw.app.track_allocations can be set if the interpreter should track all memory allocations and then free the memory which was not explicitly released before application exit. To debug memory leaks in 3rd party extension modules set the value to false; - All the Pyds that have zero UID will be assigned with the applications' UID at the time of packaging. As a result, Python applications can now be symbian signed. (This opens the door for submitting Python applications to OVI Store;) - Pdf documentation is available in the installer/archive; - Python Runtime and application sis can be on different drives. The limitation of 'both should be installed on the same drive' is eliminated; - API cleanup in the SensorFW module; - Couple of defects are fixed with this release. Refer release notes for more details.
One more thing that should be mentioned here is that the Python runtime and its dependencies will be automatically installed on a series of mobile phones as soon as the Python application is started, and that the list includes: Nokia 6220 classic, N86 8 MP, N85, 6720 classic, 6730 classic, N96, 5730 XpressMusic, N78, 5630 XpressMusic, E52, E55, 6710 Navigator, E75, N79, 5800 XpressMusic, 5530 XpressMusic, 5230, X6 and N97 mini.
However, there is a downside too, at least when it comes to a comparison between version 2.0.0 and the previous version, 1.4.5, including the fact that the OpenC libraries will have to be installed in order for the runtime to work, as it depends on them, and the fact that S60 2.x devices are not supported by the new code-base, mainly due to the fact that OpenC libraries are not available for these devices.
The developing team also notes that, “Python for S60 source will be made available soon in Symbian Foundation, so that users can contribute easily and actively to the growth of PyS60,” a move most probably driven by the fact that the Symbian code was recently released in open source entirely. Additional details on the release can be found here.