Wireless Java Programming with J2ME [Paperback]

Yu Feng (Author), Jun Zhu (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sams White Books | Publication Date: May 21, 2001

Wireless Java Programming with Java 2 Micro Edition assumes readers are motivated to build the next generation wireless application by leveraging the J2ME technology. The book provides commercial-quality code and examples primarily based on the industry-leading Motorola phone emulator. This hands-on guide to wireless J2ME programming is loaded with practical sample programs that can be applied in real world development.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Perfect for the experienced Java programmer making the transition to wireless development, Wireless Java Programming with J2ME delivers a capable tutorial to what's new and different on smaller Java devices. This title is all you need to get started writing wireless applications successfully.

This book provides a nicely packaged tutorial for wireless development, beginning with a tour of the acronym-laden world of Java wireless devices based on the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME). You'll learn about the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP), which this text centers on, plus the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC). Clearly, this is a market in flux, and the authors do a good job of describing the kinds of J2ME devices available today. They also explain what's different about J2ME development when compared to traditional Java 2 programming.

After this introduction, the book delves into the APIs you'll need to master to use J2ME. The authors create a number of "MIDlets" for wireless devices (such as a PIM and eventually a front end for an online bookstore). They cover the new APIs that are used to program such devices. This includes the higher-level UI library for MIDP devices, which lets developers design for the restricted displays of these devices. They also cover lower-level graphics, which calls for a more do-it-yourself approach to UI design. Illustrated with a calendar utility, they show you how to draw on the screen of a wireless device.

Later sections look at other features that you need to create robust wireless applications in Java, including network connectivity options (like sockets and HTTP), plus storing records in the built-in storage APIs that come built-in on the platform. The book also covers the surprising variety of XML tools that let you add XML support to wireless applications. The centerpiece of this text is the authors' MotoShop--a case study for a wireless front end for an online bookstore, which is used to demonstrate many of the techniques covered earlier in the text. Final sections on SyncML (for synchronizing data between wireless devices) and new support for Java on the popular DoCoMo i-Mode platform help round out this book.

With the wireless marketplace poised for explosive growth, this title can let Java developers get ready for a new kind of Java platform. This book delivers a very solid tour of what an intermediate to advanced programmer needs to get started building the next generation of wireless software in Java. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Overview of Java development for wireless devices
• Overview of the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME)
• Key J2ME standards explained: the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP), Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC), and the K Virtual Machine (KVM)
• Using Sun's J2ME Wireless Toolkit and Motorola's MotoSDK for wireless development
• CLDC versus MIDP libraries
• MIDlets
• Limitations for CDLC devices and the KVM
• J2ME security
• Packaging and deploying MIDlets
• Tutorial for user-interface design with the UI for Wireless Devices (including images and event handling)
• High-level UI APIs (including lists and choices, text boxes, alerts, and forms)
• Low-level UI APIs (including drawing graphics shapes and text, double-buffering, plus a calendar example)
• Persistent storage (record stores, adding and deleting records, enumerating records, a sample mobile scheduler)
• Network programming in J2ME MIDP (the Generic Connection Framework, programming with sockets, datagrams, and HTTP)
• XML for wireless applications (survey of wireless XML parsers including SAX 1.0, TinyXML, and NanoXML)
• Case study for a mobile book-ordering application
• Data synchronization (SyncML protocols, a mobile scheduler)
• Reference to CLDC and MIDP class libraries
• NTT DoCoMo's Java for i-Mode introduced

From the Publisher

The use of wireless devices such as cellular phones and two-way pagers has undergone tremendous growth over the past few years. According to a recent study, there will be one billion wireless subscribers worldwide by 2004. As the wireless market matures, people will demand more advanced reliable applications. Sun and a group of wireless industry leaders such as Motorola, Nokia, and Palm defined a new set of standards called Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) to help develop and deploy the next generation wireless applications that can change the way people live and the way they do business.

Since Sun's recent release of J2ME, J2ME technology has generated huge interest among the developer community. More than 500 companies signed up to work with J2ME. Major wireless players such as Motorola, Research in Motion, Palm, and LG Telecom have already begun supporting J2ME on their wireless devices. More and more people are realizing the exciting opportunities in application development by leveraging J2ME technology.

The goal of Wireless Java Programming with J2ME is simple: to help developers understand J2ME MIDP and be able to write applications quickly. We are also developers who write applications for various platforms and are fully aware of the issues and challenges that developers face in their development process. So we focus on what is practical and useful to the application developers. This book comes with practical sample programs that can be applied in real-world development.

The purpose of Wireless Java Programming with J2ME is to help you to understand the concepts of J2ME technology, specifically the CLDC and MIDP, and to teach you how to develop wireless applications using J2ME's CLDC and MIDP. We try to reach this goal by progressively guiding you through all the key aspects of application programming in J2ME MIDP with easy-to-understand examples.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1st edition (May 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672321351
• ISBN-13: 978-0672321351
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,830,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have Wireless J2ME Book For Both Beginner And Expert, July 9, 2001

By 

Jackie Lee (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wireless Java Programming with J2ME (Paperback)

This book provides a comprehensive and in-depth study on the next-generation wireless programming with J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition). The authors introduce this cutting-edge wireless technology with superb knowledge and professional insight. Chapters are well structured, tightly connected and rich in practical sample codes, that simply makes understanding highly effective.

Besides covering all the major J2ME topics, such as CLDC(Connected Limited Device Configuration) and Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP), this book also explains, in great details, other wireless developments, including "Using XML in Wireless Applications" (Chapter 10) and "NTT DoCoMo's Java for i-Mode in Japan" (Appendix D). Knowing these current industry trends would greatly empower readers with added advantages in this competitive wireless market.

Being the first-prize winner in the 2000 Motorola J2ME Virtual Developer Contest, Yu Feng, one of the authors, dedicates the entire Chapter 9 for his award-winning m-commerce application. This recognition on his quality wireless production gives a strong promise to the high usability and the world-class standard of this book.

Overall, this is a great book for beginners to have a quick jump-start into writing the first wireless Java application. It is also a handy reference text for professional programmers. I highly recommend this book to all those developers who want to build the next-generation wireless applications using J2ME.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference Book, July 29, 2001

By 

Anthony M. Paper - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wireless Java Programming with J2ME (Paperback)

Great reference book with good examples and information on J2ME programming. The UI, RMS, and networking material is very useful. I refer to the book often and find the detailed information extremely useful and comprehensive. I would recommend it for any serious J2ME developer.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just About All That Is Available, December 21, 2001

By 

S. Brown "s_brown" (Potsdam, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wireless Java Programming with J2ME (Paperback)

Not many books are yet available on J2ME. For this reason alone, this text is decent. However, much of the text is simple embellishement of the limited J2ME MIDP documentation available from Sun. The examples are decent but sometimes confusing -- I typed in several and experienced minor problems with a few. My basic issue with the text is the lack of explaination. Code examples are good, but explaination is better and the topics are only modestly explained.

Overall, a decent first book on this issue but nothing spectacular.