Programming a Windows CE machine isn't easy. First, go to your desktop machine. Boot up NT 4, Service Pack 3. Fire up Visual C++. Install the Windows CE Toolkit for Visual C++, and write a C++ program using MFC, or perhaps a straight C program.

Next, in the early stages of development, run your program on the emulator that comes with the Windows CE Toolkit, but then squirt the program down your serial cable to your Windows CE handheld when your program gets serious.

Complications? Nah. You just need to make sure it works right on the target machine, and, of course, the emulator doesn't always work perfectly.

If you're not a C programmer, you can use Visual Basic. Get VB for your desktop machine (running Windows NT, of course). Get the Windows CE Toolkit for Visual Basic too. Remember you're using the VBScript language subset (not VB proper) along with a reduced forms package and fewer controls. If you discover a bug in your program when you're away from the desktop, no problem. Just jot a note and wait until you get back to the office so you can try a bug fix.

There's got to be a better way
Whoa! Is there a better way to get the job done? For example -- now here's a crazy thought -- wouldn't it be nice if you could actually program your Windows CE machine right on your Windows CE machine, instead of needing a separate desktop running NT, a compiler, an add-on Windows CE toolkit for the compiler, and a sluggish serial cable?

Wouldn't it be cool if you Windows 98 users didn't have to switch to NT on your desktop just to program your Windows CE device? Wouldn't it be fantastic if you could actually fix bugs right there in the field, by running your programming environment on the target hardware, like the big boys do? Sure would. Just don't look directly to Microsoft for the solution. Instead, consider one of the development systems in this article.

Conflict of interest alert
I'm a programmer/writer for the Visual Basic team at Microsoft. But don't worry. Although I've programmed in both VB and C++ for years, I am not exactly thrilled by the fact that you need a big desktop machine running Windows NT to program your little Windows CE machine. On the other hand, as a Microsoft stockholder, I am most certainly thrilled to see third parties take up the challenge to provide viable programming environments that run on Windows CE devices. What's not to like? The more ways there are to program Windows CE, the more reasons there are for people to buy Windows CE. Plus, I always like to explore new languages.