MIDP Style Guide for the Java 2 Platform

Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) defines the Java application environment for mobile information devices (MIDs), such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs)....

The characteristics of devices and the MIDP environment have important implications for MIDP implementors and application designers. This chapter covers not only those characteristics...

Designing MIDlets differs from designing desktop applications because the MIDP environment is screen-based, not window-based or command-line oriented. The screen-based environment requires more consideration...

Objects shown on the screen are displayables. Displayables include both structured and unstructured screens. See "Characteristics of the MIDP Environment" on page 18 for...

A list is a screen of choices. MIDP offers three list types: exclusive-choice, which allows the user to select one and only one element;...

boxes are screens that can display one or more lines of text that the application usually allows the user to edit. Application developers can...

A form is a screen that can contain an arbitrary mixture of items: images, text fields, gauges, choice groups, and so on. (Note that...

Forms can contain one or more items. Some items are editable, such as text fields, and some are static, such as images. Application developers...

An alert is a screen that communicates error, status, or other information to users. An alert screen, like other screens, can have titles, tickers,...

A canvas provides access to low-level input mechanisms, such as key presses and low-level graphics calls, such as drawing simple shapes. A canvas can...

The game package is new in MIDP 2.0. The package has a game canvas, which extends the capabilities of a canvas in ways that...

Abstract commands enable application designers to define actions for a MIDlet without specifying the accompanying user interface. Instead of requiring application designers to put...

A device must have a way for users to find and install new MIDlet suites, run MIDlet suites, remove old MIDlet suites, and so...

The MIDP 2.0 Specification provides push functionality, which enables a device to automatically launch a MIDlet to handle an incoming message. Examples of potential...

The MIDP 1.0 Specification had a sandbox model for security. A sandbox model provides a MIDlet with a restricted set of APIs. These APIs...

This chapter covers touch input, performance, and multithreading....