Java ME on Symbian OS: Inside the Smartphone Model

Chapter 3. Enter Java ME on Symbian OS

Once you've read Part Two, you can proudly claim that you understand Java ME on Symbian OS. Thinking about it, why can't you do that already? As you noticed, no new tricks were mentioned in Chapter 2. Java is Java, ME is ME and it is all too familiar. Even suspiciously familiar... How can Java ME on Symbian OS be the same as everywhere yet more than anywhere? And at the same time? Well, it is true! Just to confirm again, Java ME on Symbian OS is still Java ME. Only, there's much more!

Chapter 2 defined the prerequisite knowledge required for this book. Having reached this point in the book, we can safely assume that you are familiar with MIDlets, MIDlet suite, JAR, JAD, JSR, LCDUI, GCF, RMS, WMA, OTA, permissions, and so on. (If any of these terms is unfamiliar to you, please go back and read Chapter 2 or another Java ME tutorial.^[25]) We assume that you are not yet familiar with Java ME on Symbian OS, from a platform point of view. Java ME, the leading mobile development technology, exposes the strength and richness of Symbian OS, the leading smartphone platform, through standardized Java APIs.

In this chapter, we first run an application on a real mobile phone. Then, we consider additional APIs and which JSRs are supported. The next two sections discuss how the lack of fixed limits on computing resources and the powerful native platform give Java ME on Symbian OS more power. We then demonstrate how Java and native code can interoperate. We ...