Enterprise J2ME Developing Mobile Java Applications [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Appendix B. Tools and J2ME Runtimes for PDAs

Compared with cell phone devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are more powerful. They have larger screen size and more memory, support advanced data entry methods, and are more expandable. Those characteristics make PDAs premium choices for mobile enterprise applications. J2ME runtimes are available for most enterprise-level PDAs, including Palm OS, PocketPC, and embedded Linux (e.g., Sharp Zaurus) devices. However, many devices do not have JVMs preinstalled by the factory. That requires us to install J2ME runtimes ourselves or distribute the JVM as part of the application.

The IBM Pervasive Computing (PvC) division develops J2ME runtimes for a variety of PDA devices. Those JVMs and runtime libraries are distributed as the WebSphere Micro Environment (WME) and WebSphere Custom Environment (WCE) products (also known as the J9 VM). IBM's flagship mobile development tool, the WebSphere Studio Device Developer (WSDD), bundles a powerful Java IDE, the WME/WCE runtimes, and many add-on libraries. The WSDD is freely available for evaluation purposes. In this appendix, I briefly introduce the WSDD v5.5 IDE and cover how to install the WME runtimes onto devices.

Note

The IBM WebSphere Micro Environment for Palm OS is now licensed by Palm and is factory installed in all new Palm Tungsten devices.