As I have whined many times before, J2ME has been treated like a second class
citizen on Symbian smartphones. Most importantly, the Java runtime does not
integrate well with the underlying platform. For example, on my Nokia 6600, I
cannot access the local PIM database or the photo gallery or the MMC card
from Java applications. That severely limits Java's usefulness on those
devices since "integration" is key to any successful mobile UI application.
Symbian C++ was the only "real" way to develop compelling applications on
Series 60 phones.
On Nokia 9500, the J2ME File I/O and PIM optional package (JSR 75) was
implemented but is only accessible from the CDC/Personal Profile runtime.
That is obviously is not good enough. Well, now things finally change! The
Nokia 6630 phone is the first consumer phone from Nokia that supports JSR 75.
The only caveat is that according ... (more)
"Java on mobile phones" has been the hottest topic at the JavaOne conference
for the past several years. This year was no exception and a large part of
the show floor was designated as the "Wireless Village." With tens of
billions dollars' worth of Java phones and related services sold every year,
Sun and many others are clearly making money. However, most JavaOne attendees
I met were enterprise developers. Each year they ask the same questions: "How
can I be part of the Java ME success?" "Will mobile Java ever create as many
developer opportunities as enterprise Java?" The answe... (more)
Lightweight application frameworks are all the rage in the enterprise Java
community in the past couple of years. From the pioneering Spring and
Hibernate frameworks, to the infusion of technologies like aspect-oriented
programming and metadata annotation, to the new standard EJB 3.0 (and Java EE
5.0) specifications, lightweight frameworks have gradually become mainstream.
The rise of lightweight technologies was largely due to developers' rebellion
against the "heavyweight" of EJB 2.1 (and earlier). Lightweight frameworks
aim to make developers more productive and the applicatio... (more)
Is Ruby Replacing Java? – Not So Fast
Okay, I have heard it all: Ruby On Rails (RoR) is so much cooler and simpler
than Java EE. It allows you to write web applications 10X faster. And Ruby
has nifty language features we can only dream of in Java. So, Ruby must be
replacing Java to become the "next" programming language just as Java
"replaced" C++/COBOL and C++ "replaced" Fortran.
Well, in my opinion, this kind of talk has some serious logical problems.
First of all, as the short history of high technology has proven again and
again, the "superior" solution does not always wi... (more)
Annotation is a new Java language feature introduced in JDK 5.0. It has
quickly become one of the most popular, and yet most controversial, language
feature in core Java. New Java frameworks, such as EJB 3.0 and Hibernate 3.0,
make extensive use of annotations to eliminate the excessive XML
configuration files (a.k.a. the "XML hell" in Java EE). Those annotations
significantly reduce the amount of code and configuration data, and simplify
the overall architecture, making application development easier. At the same
time, enterprise architecture purists are complaining that annotat... (more)
Michael Juntao Yuan is a member of JDJ's editorial board. He is the author of three books. His latest book, "Nokia Smartphone Hacks" from O'Reilly, teaches you how to make the most out of your mobile phone. He is also the author of "Enterprise J2ME" - a best-selling book on mobile enterprise application development. Michael has a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently works for JBoss Inc. You can visit his Web site and blogs at www.MichaelYuan.com/.
David Lucas
Cathy Lopez
Shaul Efraim
Terence Martin Breslin
Cory Marchand
David Hughes
James Carlini
John Iffert
Dan Stolts
Joe Zeto
