Glen Cordrey

I recently had the opportunity to develop Java applications for Nextel's i85s cell phone, the first Java 2 Micro Edition-enabled cell phone in the U.S. In this article I describe some of the issues I encountered when developing the user interface and the framework I created to address those issues. The primary goals of this framework are to allow the development of custom components and to make it easy to assemble those components into screens. J2ME, CLDC, and MIDP The Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) includes virtual machine and application program interface (API) specifications for running Java applications in devices with limited computing resources, such as personal digital assistant devices (PDAs) and cellular phones. J2ME defines different configurations that ... (more)

Convenience Apps

What is a killer app for J2ME? Well, if I had a specific answer to that question I'd be slaving away over it during all my free time, dreaming of the riches and life of ease ahead of me. If you scan various MIDlet sites, you'll find a preponderance of games, numerous business applications, and a scattering of "other." The appeal and value of business applications has been widely discussed... (more)

Quality Is Job n?

At a training session I recently attended, a presenter mentioned that his cell phone crashes whenever he runs a simple MIDlet that he wrote. While it may have been inevitable that poor-quality environments would make it onto J2ME platforms, it's still distressing to see some J2ME development proceeding down the trail blazed by the megacorp in Redmond. Now I am not one of those who despise... (more)

Hanged in a Fortnight?

Samuel Johnson said, "When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." While Sun's current situation may not be dire enough to be considered analogous to facing the hangman's rope, it is clear that economic distress is forcing Sun to change its mindset. Whether that change is a concentrating focus or a casting about for a lifeline is subject to d... (more)

Setting Up a Java Shop: How To Build Better Software Faster

Three times in recent years I've joined an organization that was relatively new to Java development and missing some basic infrastructure elements that I'd relied on in previous development efforts. These elements include utility classes, standards and conventions, and build and quality control tools that help you produce a higher quality product with less risk. If you're involved in a d... (more)