Wireless Web Development gives web content developers the skills they need to develop wireless Web sites for the next generation of Internet use. These sites are now increasingly important for wireless handhelds, including cell phones, two-way pagers, and handheld computers. The book is divided into four conceptual parts. In the first, the author discusses a brief history of the Wireless Web, along with market segments, user expectations, opportunities, and the challenges of wireless design in general terms. This section orients readers unfamiliar with wireless technologies, the wireless market, and opportunities for wireless developers. As such, it provides a good background for decision-makers and those needing to justify an investment in wireless content. The second part provides an in-depth discussion of using existing wired Web protocols for wireless development. One chapter provides a high-level analysis of the tradeoffs regarding wireless Web development with HTML and other Web formats, while a second provides an in-depth look at a subset of HTML appropriate for today's wireless users. The third part explores the exciting new array of screen phone technologies available. Readers will learn how to use both the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and the Handheld Device Markup Language to create content for screen phones that utilize Web servers to distribute data. One chapter covers the Wireless Application Protocol's markup language, the Wireless Markup Language, and a second is dedicated to the WAP technology for creating dynamic content, WMLScript. Finally, a chapter explores using the Handheld Device Markup Language to support screen phones that cannot display WAP content. Readers will gain an understanding of the various markup languages and protocol languages, learn to select an appropriate markup language for their project, and create content tuned for their customer's devices. The final conceptual segment includes a discussion of server-side techniques for offering content to different platforms, and a brief survey of some of the leading technologies in the wireless development space, including Palm, Inc.'s PalmVII wireless connected organizer, synchronizing browsers such as AvantGo, and Spyglass Prism, for content transcoding. About the author: Ray Rischpater received a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and has more than five years experience developing wireless applications for mobile users in both the consumer and vertical markets. This book draws from his broad background in wireless interface design, wireless transports, and content development. He is presently an independent author and consultant writing articles and books about wireless web development and mobile computing.
As developers move into the still largely untapped market of the wireless Web, they must learn to create solutions that take new considerations such as small screens and sluggish transfer speeds into account.
Wireless Web Development is an excellent introduction to the field, providing a well-rounded education of the network technology and content development issues.
Since most readers will be coming fresh into the wireless world, author Ray Rischpater invests significant space in laying out the terrain of the wireless landscape with a look at the history of the technology as well as the future based on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and the Wireless Markup Language (WML). The issue of which language to go with--HDML or WML--is handled right away: both. An excellent discussion explains the reason.
One outstanding section expounds on synchronised browser technology and the unique demands of mobile Web users. Server-side scripting, with languages such as PHP, is presented to show how to make the best use of server resources to deliver powerful content, and WMLScript--the wireless counterpart to JavaScript--is thoroughly covered.
It's clear that the wireless Web is in any and every Web developer's future. Wireless Web Development is a great first step in getting educated. --Stephen W. Plain
