Programming Wireless Devices with the Java(TM) 2 Platform (Micro Edition)

Having read the book I think I have a better idea of the distinction between CLDC and MIDP, but still don't feel wonderfully sure. The impression I come away with is that the CLDC is about ensuring a basic level of functionality and the MIDP describes a wider range of functionality such as GUIs and Advanced communications features. This would make sense then if the Japanese Docomo Java framework was CLDC and AU/Vodaphone framework was both CLDC and MIDP.

The book itself was reasonably informative as to the new MIDP 2.0 features, and I was interested to see some good code samples for things like the MIDP Game and Multimedia API - however the code samples don't yet appear available for download. I hope they'll be up soon so I can check them out.

Overall I found the book a little difficult to read - it is kind of more of a reference book - I would imagine myself dipping into it to get things I need, rather than reading through it to get an understanding of J2ME. In some ways the book would almost be better as a more condensed reference work. There are a number of good wireless programming tips such as making all communications run in a separate thread to improve user experience, but these are a little thin on the ground and the book is dominated by working through each detail of each of the APIs. I think is an important book to have if you are working against the MIDP2.0 specification, but I don't think I 'd recommend it to a beginner trying to learn J2ME.

I would imagine that successive iterations of this book will lead to major improvements, such as breaking the book into a Reference work, and a J2ME programming tips guide. I think another couple of years of explosive growth in J2ME wireless devices and programmers will make the latter work possible.


Upgrade to MIDP 2 and CLDC 1.1   September 30, 2003
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The market for small devices (cellphones, PDAs, watches,...) with computational ability, but much less so than a standard PC or laptop is potentially vast. No one disputes this. Its allure is enhanced by there being no overly dominant player hoovering up over 50% of the profits, like Microsoft and Intel collectively in PCs.

Logically, Sun sees growth here and this book is part of its frenetic rollout. It differs from the first edition because of significant upgrades to the 2 standards its describes. The Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) went from version 1 in 1999 to 1.1 in 2002. It added more features that the book describes in detail. Basically, they give a richer compatibility with standard java (J2SE). The other standard, Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) went from version 1 to 2 in 2002. To developers the key additions were APIs for sound and games. In retrospect, MIDP 1 was indeed primitive, to lack these.

Commercially, the MIDP 2 changes in the book may be more important than the CLDC changes. It means that you can now develop games and other applications using sound, at a high enough level of abstraction that they can be run on a broader range of hardware. Well at least that is the idea. I have not done so. But the book's explanation seems logical and thorough enough to make this plausible. Undoubtedly, if you and others follow this path, gaps or insufficiencies will be found, leading to the next increments of the standards.

If you are still clutching the first edition of this book, or any other book that only covers CLDC 1 or MIDP 1, then drop it. Obsolete. Upgrade here.