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About m

A honest word first: when we say "writing an m script", we mean "programming". We, the authors of m, believe that programming can be a lot of fun. Programming m is particularly rewarding. You do it both for and on a device that you often carry with you, maybe wherever you go: first, some clever m scripts can make your smart phone a lot smarter; second, you can try new ideas or perfect old ones virtually anytime and anywhere.

So:

• If you are already familiar with any programming language, learning m will be easy and straightforward.
• If programming is totally new to you, but you are a curious person interested in technology, m scripting can open the door to an exciting and virtually unlimited new activity.
• If however you are totally convinced programming is nothing for you, you should only read sections * () and * (), which shows you how to use m to run scripts written by your friends, or anybody else from the m community.

Unless you already are a smartphone Guru, or close to becoming one, learning m will also give you a better understanding of the technologies used by your smart phone, like the GSM network, Bluetooth, the agenda or contacts databases, and much more.

Then, a word of warning: smart phones are powerful small computers. Their hardware is in many respects comparable to, and in some respects even superior to, that of a Personal Computer. However, coming out of the factory, smart phones are limited to the capabilities the manufacturer, and often the network provider, have considered worth or safe to include. You can install additional software, but this software will also usually be limited to the tasks it was developed for. There are many good (and a few not so good) reasons this limitation exists. Among the good ones are the following:

• You should not be allowed to manipulate the phone in a way that makes it unusable or leads to loss of important data.
• Cellphone communications are expensive, and often special services will be charged directly to your phone bill. Hence, running the wrong software can become quickly quite expensive.

Unlike a lot of other smart phone software, m is very powerful in a general sense. This means that with a malevolent script and you giving the corresponding permissions, m can make the phone partially unusable, delete important information, or even charge your phone bill without you noticing it.

This is of course also true for a lot of other software, which you must trust before starting to use it. m has a clear advantage here: you can always verify scripts before using them, and you can explicitly deny access to data on your phone or to its communication resources. For the scripts you get from people or sources you do not know or cannot trust, this is highly recommended.

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