Objective 7.2 Describe at a high level the basic characteristics, benefits, drawbacks, and deployment issues related to creating clients using J2ME midlets.
Since I am new to J2ME and Midlets and I am sure there are others like me out there. I thought I will start topic so some of us can get introduced to midlets.
Basic Characteristics
"Midlets" are the nickname for Java technology applications that run on wireless and mobile devices. MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) applications are piquantly called MIDlets, a continuation of the naming theme begun by applets and servlets.
To develop MIDlets, you'll need some kind of development kit, either from Sun Microsystems or another vendor. MIDP is only a specification; vendors are free to develop their own implementations.
Benefits
1) Writing MIDlets is relatively easy for a moderately experienced Java programmer.
2) Creating source code is much the same as in J2SE development, but the build process is different.
3) MIDlets are developed on regular desktop computers, although the MIDlet itself is designed to run on a small device.
4) Sun's MIDP reference implementation includes an emulator named midp. It emulates an imaginary MID, a mobile telephone with some standard keys and a 182-by-210-pixel screen. The J2ME Wireless Toolkit includes a similar emulator, as well as several others.
5) J2ME profiles such as MIDP help hide the complexity of deploying the same application on the many different devices because they automatically accommodate user interface control differences and other vagaries of the different devices.
Drawbacks
Could someone please list some drawbacks...
Deployment Issues
First, the source code must be compiled against the MIDP classes using javac's -bootclasspath option.
Second, the classfiles must be preverified using the preverify command line tool.
With the J2ME Wireless Toolkit, these steps are conveniently automated. Just click the Build button to build and preverify. Applications can be easily tested in emulators using the J2ME Wireless Toolkit.
Reference: http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-05-2005/jw-0502-midlet.html
Reference: http://java.sun.com/features/2001/06/golden.j2me.html
Since I am new to J2ME and Midlets and I am sure there are others like me out there. I thought I will start topic so some of us can get introduced to midlets.
Basic Characteristics
"Midlets" are the nickname for Java technology applications that run on wireless and mobile devices. MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) applications are piquantly called MIDlets, a continuation of the naming theme begun by applets and servlets.
To develop MIDlets, you'll need some kind of development kit, either from Sun Microsystems or another vendor. MIDP is only a specification; vendors are free to develop their own implementations.
Benefits
1) Writing MIDlets is relatively easy for a moderately experienced Java programmer.
2) Creating source code is much the same as in J2SE development, but the build process is different.
3) MIDlets are developed on regular desktop computers, although the MIDlet itself is designed to run on a small device.
4) Sun's MIDP reference implementation includes an emulator named midp. It emulates an imaginary MID, a mobile telephone with some standard keys and a 182-by-210-pixel screen. The J2ME Wireless Toolkit includes a similar emulator, as well as several others.
5) J2ME profiles such as MIDP help hide the complexity of deploying the same application on the many different devices because they automatically accommodate user interface control differences and other vagaries of the different devices.
Drawbacks
Could someone please list some drawbacks...
Deployment Issues
First, the source code must be compiled against the MIDP classes using javac's -bootclasspath option.
Second, the classfiles must be preverified using the preverify command line tool.
With the J2ME Wireless Toolkit, these steps are conveniently automated. Just click the Build button to build and preverify. Applications can be easily tested in emulators using the J2ME Wireless Toolkit.
Reference: http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-05-2005/jw-0502-midlet.html
Reference: http://java.sun.com/features/2001/06/golden.j2me.html