A WYSIWYG visual programming environment for programming applications for portable computer devices is provided. The developer selects a form skin based on the underlying portable computer device that the developer intends the application to execute on. The form skin appears to the developer as a graphic modeled after the actual device. The developer is able to drag and drop GUI elements onto the form, where they appear at approximately the same size and resolution as they would to the user of the actual device, regardless of the resolution used on the developer's computing device. The developer is able to associate code with the GUI elements, as well as any softkeys that appear on the form skin. The developer is able to test the application by emulating the hardware of the portable device, and operating the device using the form skin. Through the form skin, the developer is able to see nearly exactly how the application will look and operate on the underlying portable device without having to leave the development environment.