Expect a well written J2ME tutorial!

Bad news first: This book has a few typographical errors in the
explanatory texts but none in the source code listings. It also
has a few misplaced words reversing the meaning of what the
author intended to say. But if you're a beginning Java
programmer and understands basic code optimization, you'll find
yourself correcting the texts with a note on the margins.
Example: on page 273, "... it takes longer for MIDlet code to
access local variables than ... member variables..." The "local"
and "member" words should be interchanged.

I had to re-read Chapter 17 "Creating Animated MIDlets" because
the author uses a different Sprite / Sprite Management classes
that I'm used to (I write my own). Chapter 19 is probably the
most difficult chapter to read because it uses artificial
algorithms without fully explaining them (in fairness to the
author, he did mention the names of the original algorithm
developers, the general term of the algorithm and one possible
source for AI research).

The author could have used this chapter to create a multiplayer
game (as a perfect combination of his prevous game programming
chapters and networking-I/O chapters). Example: A two-player
first person turn-based boxing game could have been a good
tutorial.

Also, the last two chapters were not necessary. He could have
put them in appendices. The space could have been used too for
more complicated examples.

Good news: Nevertheless, Chapters 1 to 16 were an excellent
J2ME tutorial altogeter. The author wrote very clearly and he
reinforces previous lessons implicitly. As this is not a game
programming book and despite the minor issues above, this books
served its purpose of teaching me J2ME in 5 days (not 21 sorry).

Other Reviews

• Sweet little intro
• Expect a well written J2ME tutorial!
• Early to market but a great practical tutorial