MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition [Paperback]

Cynthia Bloch (Author), Annette Wagner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Java (Addison-Wesley) | Publication Date: June 10, 2003

MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the JavaaA A 2 Platform, Micro Edition, is the comprehensive reference for designing and creating interactive JavaaA A applications for consumer-oriented mobile devices. Readers learn how to best exploit MIDP 2.0 features, such as the gaming API, multimedia, and security for user-friendly MIDlets. Readers who create MIDP environments (MIDP implementors) also learn how to best support developers and users. This book begins by introducing readers to the unique requirements of the consumer market and to the characteristics of MIDs and the MIDP 2.0 environment. Readers have a first look at the process of designing applications for MIDP in general terms before examining the nuts and bolts of creating usable, predictable applications. The authors provide user interface designers, application developers, and MIDP implementers with clearly illustrated standards for working with screen layouts, lists, text boxes, forms, alerts, canvas screens, and game screens. Visual examples demonstrate both what does and what does not work. The book ends with the authors' strategies for improving usability, security, and performance.Key topic coverage includes: *designing applications for MIDP *working with and displaying lists, text boxes, and alerts *working with and laying out forms and form items *creating and implementing canvases *using the new game package *using and implementing abstract commands *integrating MIDP and MIDlet suites into a device *using push functionality *understanding the MIDP 2. 0 security model *using touch input *enhancing performance and using multiple threads MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the JavaaA A 2 Platform, Micro Edition, is the insider's guide to creating applications and devices that create consumer demand. 0321198018B05302003

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the Java™ 2 Platform, Micro Edition, is the comprehensive reference for designing and creating interactive Java™ applications for consumer-oriented mobile devices. Readers learn how to best exploit MIDP 2.0 features, such as the gaming API, multimedia, and security for user-friendly MIDlets. Readers who create MIDP environments (MIDP implementors) also learn how to best support developers and users.

This book begins by introducing readers to the unique requirements of the consumer market and to the characteristics of MIDs and the MIDP 2.0 environment. Readers have a first look at the process of designing applications for MIDP in general terms before examining the nuts and bolts of creating usable, predictable applications. The authors provide user interface designers, application developers, and MIDP implementers with clearly illustrated standards for working with screen layouts, lists, text boxes, forms, alerts, canvas screens, and game screens. Visual examples demonstrate both what does and what does not work. The book ends with the authors' strategies for improving usability, security, and performance.

Key topic coverage includes:

designing applications for MIDP

working with and displaying lists, text boxes, and alerts

working with and laying out forms and form items

creating and implementing canvases

using the new game package

using and implementing abstract commands

integrating MIDP and MIDlet suites into a device

using push functionality

understanding the MIDP 2.0 security model

using touch input

enhancing performance and using multiple threads

MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the Java™ 2 Platform, Micro Edition, is the insider's guide to creating applications and devices that create consumer demand.

0321198018B05302003

About the Author

Cindy Bloch writes technical documentation for Sun Microsystems' Java Software division. Previously, she worked as a senior software engineer at Carnegie Group Incorporated and as a senior technical trainer at Transarc Corporation.

Annette Wagner is the human interface lead for the Java 2 MicroEdition Platform in the Java Software division of Sun Microsystems, Inc. She has more than 20 years of experience in the user interface arena, and for the last several years has been designing and building the Java technologies used in cell phones, two-way pagers, personal digital assistants, screen phones, and televisions.

0321198018AB05302003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1st edition (June 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321198018
• ISBN-13: 978-0321198013
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,799,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gentle introduction to MIDP 2.0 GUI elements and more, August 2, 2003

By 

Mihailo Despotovic (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (Paperback)

First, a very important note: *this is not a technical book*. If you are already familiar with older versions of MIDP, this book is an overkill and might be a bit boring from time to time. Having said that, the book really does a good job introducing the MIDP GUI concepts and much more. It's a very readable book and contains plenty of clear examples.

In the first four introductory chapters (Introduction, MIDP Characteristics, Designing Applications for MIDP and Screen Layout) the authors briefly go over the most important features of MIDP. A special emphasis is given to the new fearures introduced by the latest MIDP 2.0.

Then they move to the most important MIDP GUI elements. Each element is introduced and its usage is suggested and the next six chapters explain design patterns and rules to be used with the most common GUI elements (Lists, Text, Forms & Form Items, Alerts and Canvas Screens).

The 11th chapter was the most interesting chapter for me - it explains the recommended usage of GUI elements related to game programming. The game package is brand new and introduced in MIDP 2.0. Here the elements such as offscreen buffer, layers and sprites are described. There is even a small subchapter about game performance and resource usage and, at the very end of the chapter, the authors give some general advices related to game creation and programming concluding with a crucial remark: "Always test your games on actual devices".

Chapter 12 explains Abstract Commands and the next three chapters introduce the features that really distinguish MIDP development from other Java applications. These features are, of course, strongly related to mobile devices properties and include Application Discovery, Installation and Mangement, Push Functionality and (many times neglected) Security.

The last chapter (16) goes briefly into some of more advanced topics of MIDP 2.0 (touch input, overall application preformance and multithreading). This chapter is very basic and contains some obvious hints, but, as I said, this is not a technical book and the chapter does a good job presenting the features that might help GUI designers.

The book is intended for beginners in the MIDP application development and, as the name of the book says, is mostly *a style guide* providing plenty of hints and advices. These advices are nicely separated in two classes: "For Developers" and "For MIDP Implementators". Authors use "Recommend", "Strongly Recommend" and "Consider" to mark the importance of these hints.

The book is coming from Sun and takes its place in the fameous "from the source" series which implies a certain level of quality. I can recommend this book for all beginners in MIDP area and, especially, to GUI designers and product managers wanting to became more familiar with the MIDP application look & feel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for J2ME, August 4, 2003

By 

Bruce Ashton (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (Paperback)

This is one of a class of books that every application developer should
read, and that not enough do. It provides cheap access to knowledge that is
expensive to obtain. The title is almost a misnomer; Call it a Usability
Guide and give a better idea of it's usefulness.

MIDP 2.0 is the latest version of the most common J2ME Profile. It's a
fairly new specification. Nokia, for example, have only announced support for
this on their Series 60 devices in the last couple of months and I'm not aware
of software or firmware upgrades for legacy devices yet. A lot of the content
in this book can be usefully applied to MIDP 1.0 devices though.

The MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the Java 2 Platform Micro Edition is a widget
by widget guide to best practice programming with the MIDP 2.0 API. The
information contained within comes from established design principles, J2ME
programming and implementation experience, and usability studies. The latter
particularly doesn't come cheap, and is out of the reach of most individual
programmers and small companies. So there is real value for money here.

The layout is very browseable, with most chapters being a set of
recommendations for a specific for specific widget such as a text box or a
gauge. For the most part each chapter follows a standard format, that is
defined in the introduction.

There are two target audiences here; J2ME developers and MIPDP 2.0
implementors. For the former it's an excellent resource. For the latter I
would say it was pretty much required reading. This is because it ends up
defining what amounts to a contract between MIDP implementors and application
developers.

For instance, from two successive recommendations on text boxes,

Application Developers<
"Use [The NON_PREDICTIVE] modifier in a textbox that has a URL, EMAIL,
NUMERIC, or DECIMAL constraint. Email addresses and domain names are not
typical words, so turning off predictive text input ..."

And in the next paragraph,

MIDP Implementors
"If the application specifies the NON_PREDICTIVE modifier, allow users to
enter one character at a time without any predictive input facilities."

Clearly the first recommendation is only meaningful if the second has been
followed already. There are lot of these sort of co-dependent recommendations.

There is still a lot of slop in the MIDP 2.0 specification. Large chunks of
it are optional, or can be implemented in more than one way. This is only to
be expected in such a young technology, but it means that books such as this
may help to define the standard if people use what they give.

I would expect many of the recommendations in here to become part of future
versions of the MIDP specification.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Program like it is 1985!, June 24, 2003

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (Paperback)

Sun and Microsoft have been duking it out for several years for control of the desktop and servers. Microsoft dominates the desktop, but on the server side, Sun holds greater sway. When Sun introduced Java in 1995, it was in an attempt to prise open the desktop. Though java has gained massive uptake on servers, Sun has been unsuccessful on the desktop. But on cellphones, Sun has used java and the phone manufacturers' fear of Microsoft to great success. About 100 million cellphones in the world use Java. Sun says the number of such phones sold this year will be greater than the number of PCs sold; though of course the unit cost of PCs is greater.

Which brings us to this book. Written for those who wish to develop using Java on cellphones, PDAs or other small mobile devices. Very topical in the context of the above struggle. In the struggle for mindshare amongst developers, Sun and Addison-Wesley have put forth with this style guide.

Very straightforward. The biggest difference, if you are a Java programmer on a server or desktop, is that the resources are now much more limited. The screen might be 1 bit deep and only 96 x 54 pixels, and you might have less than 1Mb of RAM. In a way, if you have been programming since the 80s, some of the constraints are a blast from the past. Back then, on standalone, non-mobile platforms, you probably have no more and maybe much less than 1Mb. You certainly didn't have a 24 bit deep 1600 x 1200 colour display like today's desktops. We have all become pampered with the flush resources on the latter. Now, with the AWT gone, replaced by much skimpier graphics, you can relive the fun you had in the 80s!