Go wireless with J2ME and more

Developing applications for mobile devices is a little different than developing desktop applications: screens are smaller, power and memory support is lower, network connectivity is limited (in terms of both in availability and bandwidth), and things like floating-point support tend to be lacking. Figuring out how best to develop for the wireless platform can be a case of trial and error — so why not learn from the efforts of others instead?

At this year’s JavaOne, many companies showed off their developer networks, announcing new tools and Websites. Sun announced its Wireless Developer Initiative, while many other companies announced tools targeting the J2ME developer. In addition, many companies offered wireless development resources in an effort to lure developers to their tools and Websites. And, if you aren’t conferenced out yet, several wireless-related development conferences will be taking place around the world this June.

Java Wireless Developer Initiative

If you’re interested in wireless development, the first place to stop is Sun’s Java Wireless Developer Initiative, located in Sun’s Java Developer Connection (JDC). There you’ll find resources to help you learn, develop, test, and deploy wireless applications. You can even sign up for two new newsletters to get the latest in technical tips for J2ME and consumer and embedded technologies (see Resources).

At the Wireless Developer Initiative, you’ll find samples of all the latest books for the wireless developer, tutorials on wireless technologies, and testing and deployment options from around the globe.

J2ME tools

Probably the biggest J2ME tool announcement at the show was the Borland-Nokia JBuilder announcement. JBuilder, which won awards from Java Report and JavaWorld, now offers a special MobileSet, Nokia Edition. The tool offers a tightly integrated J2ME-compliant development environment for the wireless developer, with a visual design tool, device emulator, and debugger.

Another popular wireless development environment is from Metrowerks. It offers a special wireless edition of CodeWarrior, initially supporting the Motorola Accompli A6288 and iDEN i85s phones. CodeWarrior’s support for the J2ME Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) allows developers to create Java-based applications for the mobile phones and pagers of many different manufacturers.

Sun provides the basic development toolkit at no cost. You can pick up the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition Wireless Toolkit, a tool tightly integrated into the Forte for Java IDE, from Sun’s Website. The tool offers emulation of different target devices within the Forte environment.

With companies like Art Technology Group (ATG) and iPlanet now offering wireless support in their application servers, wireless development couldn’t be easier.

Wireless development Websites

Many companies at the conference were touting developer-related Web resources. For the wireless developer, your best resource is probably the hardware vendor for your favorite device. For instance, for a free t-shirt, developers could sign up for Nokia’s email newsletter. With more than 400,000 developers already registered, the Nokia Forum is sure to be a popular resource for those targeting Nokia’s popular Java-enabled devices. Of course, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, and other wireless manufacturers have their own Websites, if you prefer the services of those companies.

See the Resources section for more wireless Websites, including Motorola’s Developer Community, Micro Java Network, and Wireless Developer Network.

Upcoming wireless conferences

For more developer networking, Nokia is hosting an Asia-Pacific Developer Conference in Singapore June 19-20, 2001. In the US, Wireless DevCon will run in New York City July 22-24, 2001, while the Wireless One Conference will be in Las Vegas June 25-28, 2001. Unfortunately for the European audience, June’s Wireless One Europe was canceled. Check out JavaWorld’s events calendar for more upcoming developer gatherings.

Watch out for wireless

With all the hot innovations and micro buzz at JavaOne, interest in wireless development is definitely on an upward swing. If you’re interested in joining in on the fun, be sure to visit the Websites mentioned below and try out any of the tools. With a hundred

million

Java phones already in the hands of users and more to come, the need for wireless developers is sure to continue to grow.