Professional Java Mobile Programming (Programmer to programmer) - Softcover

Ray, Bill; Atkinson, Steve; Machin, Rob; Haglend, Marten; Nashi, Nadia; Taylor, Richard; Ashri, Ronald; Wiggers, Chanoch; Ayers, Danny

9781861003898: Professional Java Mobile Programming (Programmer to programmer)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861003897 ISBN 13: 9781861003898

Publisher: WROX Press Ltd, 2001

J2ME is an exciting set of technologies that provide integration of Java with wireless devices, and bring Java back to its design roots. Wireless device types, operating systems, and networks will proliferate, but Java provides a unifying programming platform for these devices.

The potential of a flexible and secure run-time environment on these new devices is immense. Mobile code, context or location-sensitive web-based services, and inter-device communication are all possible between differing devices.

The recognition that 'one size doesn't fit all', however, and the resulting introduction of configurations and profiles, is confusing. Java is still 'write once, test everywhere,' in developers' minds. This book answers in one volume the need for a detailed examination of the differences and similarities between implementations of J2ME.

Currently, deployable context based services are only possible through WAP. The book covers this exciting new area of providing location-based services.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

For any developer writing mobile applications on the Java platform, from smart cards to pagers to PDAs, Professional Java Mobile Programming provides both a "big picture" perspective on Java running on all these platforms, as well as some practical detail on the APIs and design strategies you'll need to get started.

This book's principal strength is probably its complete coverage of mobile Java's possibilities. From tiny smart cards, to Java-aware phones, to pagers and even full-fledged PDAs, the authors cover the dizzying array of acronyms involved in the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME). The actual source code here concentrates on two flavours (called profiles) of J2ME: the MIDP (for PDAs) and the CLDC (for pagers). To this end, this text covers both high-level controls available on the MIDP platform, and then lower-level graphical calls. They provide a case study for a contact manager then port it to the more restricted form factor of the CLDC standard.

Coverage of smart card programming will help get you started there. With just a few bytes of memory, programming smart cards requires a very different mindset, and this text shows you how to work with these devices. Coverage of additional abilities in mobile Java from the Java Message Service (JMS) and telephony APIs rounds out the text. The authors anchor their sometimes wide-ranging discussion with some larger case studies including a Towers of Hanoi simulation and a mobile application that uses global positioning information.

Later samples integrate mobile applications into the larger J2EE platform on the server-side. The code here mixes in technologies such as servlets, EJBs, XML and XSLT with mobile user interfaces. A discussion of the software design process geared toward mobile development closes out this book. Useful reference sections compare the MIDP and CLDC APIs, as well as listing all available classes and methods in each.

Though this text at times adopts a somewhat scattershot approach in its organisation, its overall coverage of the rich possibilities of today's different mobile Java standards will help make it a useful resource for understanding what Java has to offer when it comes to mobile computing. --Richard Dragan

About the Author:

At Swisscom (formally Swiss Telecom), world leaders in mobile interactive applications, Bill Ray worked designing their Interactive Television set-top box. Responsible for security and video application development, he was able to participate in the early stages of both JavaTV and the JMF. Having established a reputation for high security application development, Bill then set up Network 23 to provide interactive video application consultancy.

Steven Atkinson is a software architect and technical consultant with over 10 years experience. He has worked with clients from a range of industry sectors both in the UK and more recently, Silicon Valley. His particular area of expertise includes the management of complex data and the integration of database technology with internet/intranet technology.

Rob Machin is a specialist in n-tier systems architecture and new technologies, developing component-based software using both Smalltalk and Java. He is currently working as a Technical Architect with the Concise Group Ltd, advising organizations, on the use of Java 2 Enterprise Edition technology in their e and m-commerce strategies.

M�rten Haglind has been a Java Enterprise developer/architect since 1997 and is one of the founders of Haglind & Th�rnblad Soft Solutions - a Swedish consulting and instruction company. His experience includes J2EE development and consulting for European and US companies.

Nadia Nashi received an exemption from the Part One Exam in Architecture by the Royal Institute of British architects in 1990. A First class Post Graduate Diploma in architecture form Greenwich University in 1993 and an MSC in Software Engineering from Westminster University 1994. She taught Computer Aided Design at Greenwich University before becoming a full time Object Oriented design analyst, java consultant and software developer.

Richard Taylor is an independent mobile internet developer specializing in multi-device portals, and content conversion specialist. He has coded, team-led and project-managed his way through every computing fad since 1982, concentrating on object-orientation for the past 8 years. He can be reached at rct@poqit.com.

Danny Ayers has been primarily involved with networking technologies and as an independent information engineer he is currently working on tools that may help in the development of a semantic web.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.