Review: F(x)
Score:
75%
Version Reviewed: 2.00 (Beta
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At first glance, F(x) scared me more than a small child in a gas mask asking for their Mummy [Ed: apologies to overseas readers, that was Ewan's obligatory Doctor Who reference!]. As with many of the great program ideas, it started off with the author (in this case Loginid Enr.), getting a hold of a P800 and deciding that it needed something, in this case a mathematical formula calculator. He programmed that for himself, and then, with the support of a rapidly growing number of online supporters, added in a small amount of parsing, turning F(x) from a glorified calculator into something approaching a simple computer programming language.
F(x) has gone through a huge amount of development, and along with the main application, there are 100 ‘applets’ that run inside F(x), from consumer applets (including note taking) to engineering and medical applets. The merits of yet another tool/programming language on Symbian OS aren’t something that this review is going to dive into (beyond a few obvious issues). So who is F(x) primarily aimed at?
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Firstly, the consumer (that’s you and me) are going to be attracted to F(x) not because we can create our own mortgage calculator, but because there a large number of applets, all nicely sorted and filtered into categories. The Sales Tax form (see illustration) is a simple example of how everything works. If you think of a spreadsheet crossed with a ‘Visual C’ form, then you’ll be close to what F(x) can do. With over 100 applets, there’s something for everyone in here.
In regard to enterprise applications, there’s always a need for "quick and dirty" program in most organisations. Small things that would be very useful to have a computer do, but so small that commissioning a development house to code it for them would just be horribly expensive. Now, the engineers can just pull up F(x) and whip together what they need.
Programming like this is what makes a computer to a lot of people. Not something that requires arcane knowledge to program on, but something the average user can leverage into his life. F(x) eschews the normal approach of using BASIC like syntax (as seen in something like OPL) and uses a C style syntax. It’s something that engineers and Scientists may be more familiar with, and should allow bits of code written for other scientific programs to be converted with ease. Luckily the develoeprs have put all the documentation online, so you can see if F(x) is the programming environment for you before you try it out ‘in anger.’
F(x) is much more than the sum of its parts. It’s really geared towards people who need computing power when they are out and about, and would rather carry just their smartphone. Given that F(x) is available across the entire Symbian OS platform (not just the UIQ version we’ve reviewed here) it’s a nice little extension to the OS. More than most applications, check it out during a trial period to see if you will use it. With a lot of loyal users out there, F(x) has had a good number of improvements in its short life, and any time spent learning the system should be well rewarded.
Links of interest: Symbain F(x) Author interviewed on Symbian One.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at