The Internet Developer's Guide to J2ME
By Eric Giguère
One of your jobs as a Web developer is to track up-and-coming technologies that affect how you write and deploy applications. You're probably familiar with Java as a server-side development language even though most people turn to DHTML instead of Java for building client applications. However, a new kind of client-based Java is on the horizon. It's the Java 2 Micro Edition, or J2ME for short. J2ME has the chance to succeed where applets failed. (See "Online Resources" for a list of links related J2ME.)
Why Java on the Client?
The trend toward server-side application development has led to sophisticated markup and scripting languages that execute within the context of a Web browser. You see those languages at work today not only in HTML-based desktop browsers, but also on cell phone WML and HDML-based "microbrowsers." Like desktop Web browsers, microbrowsers are server-based technologies that rely on a connection (wired or wireless) between the client and a Web site, even when using local page caching. You might ask, "What if you're outside of the cell phone's coverage area or otherwise disconnected from the network?" What if your application doesn't work well with low-speed network connections? What if you're not interested in a thin, client-only approach to everything?
If browser-based computing doesn't satisfy your needs, you're likely to turn to a language like C++ or Java. C++ (or C) applications can be very efficient, but they also tend to be nonportable and complex.
