J2ME in a Nutshell

Chapter 3. The Mobile Information Device Profile and MIDlets

The Connected Limited Device Configuration provides the basis for running Java on devices that have insufficient resources to support a complete virtual machine together with a full version of the J2SE core packages. However, if you are an application developer, it is extremely unlikely that you will ever need to write software that works solely with the APIs provided by CLDC, because it contains nothing that allows for interaction with users, storage devices, or a network. CLDC is intended to be a base layer on top of which a range of profiles that provide the missing facilities can be provided, in a form suitable for the class of device for which each profile is designed. The Mobile Information Device Profile , or MIDP for short, is one such profile, intended for use on small footprint devices with a limited user interface in the form of a small screen with some kind of input capability. This chapter introduces MIDP; in the following two chapters, we’ll look in more detail at how it supports user interfaces, networking, and persistent storage of information.

MIDP Overview

MIDP is a version of the Java platform based on CLDC and KVM that is aimed at small footprint devices, principally cell phones and two-way pagers. It is also suitable for running on PDAs, and an implementation is available for PalmOS Version 3.5 and higher. (In the longer term, it is intended that these devices use the PDA profile, which is also hosted ...