P.I.P.S. is a term (recursive acronym) for Symbian software libraries, and means "P.I.P.S. Is POSIX on Symbian OS". It is intended to help C language programmers in migration of desktop and server middleware, applications to Symbian OS based mobile smartphone devices.^{[1] [2]}

Software libraries

The PIPS software libraries provides C and C++ application programming interfaces in standard C libraries such as

• POSIX
  • libc – The "C Standard Library" with system APIs mapped to Symbian OS APIs for better performance
  • libm – A mathematical library
  • libpthread – Implements POSIX-style threading support in terms of the underlying Symbian OS thread support
  • libdl – Implements POSIX-style dynamic linking which extends the dynamic loading model of Symbian OS
• LIBZ
  • libz
• OpenSSL
  • libcrypt
  • libcrypto
  • libssl
• GNOME
  • libglib

Limitations

The P.I.P.S. environment does not support true signalling. Basic signal support is emulated using threads.

Extensions and successors: Open C and Open C++

Open C and Open C++ are extensions by Nokia of P.I.P.S. In contrast to mere P.I.P.S., they were only for Series 60 phones.^[3]

Naming

The name was the result of an internal competition in the Symbian Developer Marketing department, organised by Bruce Carney (Developer Marketing) and Erik Jacobson (Product Manager). The full-stops were inserted by Symbian's Legal department to ensure there were no trademark or copyright infringements.