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MIDP 2.0 Style Guide for the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition Review by Jon Eaves
Designing usable MIDlets starts here...
As a MIDP 1.0 developer and member of the MIDP 2.0 Expert Group I was very concerned about how many of the complex aspects of MIDP 2.0 would be communicated to developers new to the platform. I was delighted to find that the MIDP 2.0 Style Guide does a fantastic job of covering both the technical (implementation) aspects of MIDP 2.0 as well as the super important usability aspects of small devices.
This is not a book for learning how to use the MIDP API's from Java, for that I suggest looking at "Programming Wireless Devices with the Java2 Platform, Riggs et al" or similar. This is a brilliant companion book on how to design your applications and as a result should be viewed in that light, rather than as an alternative to a technical book.
The book has a well structured layout, both at a high level and at an individual chapter level. The book starts with an introduction to the MIDP specification, the changes from MIDP 1.0 and a general guide to designing applications for the sorts of devices that MIDP operates on. The book then covers each of the major user interface components (from High-level API to the new Games API) as well as the likely interfaces that users will work with for installing and removing applications.
However, where this book really excels is the fantastic linking of the application developer concepts with the MIDP implementors concepts. The success of MIDP 2.0 will be how "standard" the implementations are, and how well application developers can leverage the commonality and standardisation of the platform. Each section has paragraphs grouped for "Application Developers" and "MIDP Implementors" which provides advice such as "Recommended: Use the SENSITIVE modifier for text boxes and text fields....." and "Strongly Recommended: Never store the contents of the text box....".
This additional clarification covers areas that specifications cannot easily cover, the intentions behind the specifications and how the MIDP API implementation can impact on the application developer. This can provide great value to a developer when identifying potential risky implementation options and areas where different MIDP implementations may cause problems.
A great reference for all MIDP developers; hopefully MIDP implementors will do everybody a favour and take on the recommendations provided in this book as this would be of value to the entire MIDP community.