Java on Pocket PC

[sthibault]

This is kind of a post to see the the use of java on Pocket PC and get some feed back on how well it looks/performs/works, and what features of the pocket PC can't be accessed through java?

[RICoder]

The only VM I have seen is the one for the iPaq, I haven't gone through the effort of finding a normal one...

[sthibault]

So I guess there isn't a VM that is part of PockeIE.

[Dan East]

No. There is a JavaScript / VBScript engine used by IE, but that is a totally different thing from a true Java VM.

Dan East

[sthibault]

Ok, thanks for the info guys. I was hoping the Java solution would make it easy to target the PocketPC and palm at the same time without too much trouble but I guess that is out the window. Back to C++ and API and to hell with palm.

[RICoder]

all that just to come to the same realization that we have all had.

palm stinks.

[sthibault]

I knew that, but there are those unenlightned that do not and I want them to use my software too. Why I don't know but I just do

[prj]

Hi,

This is quite old, but it's free and it runs on my iPaq.

PersonalJavaTM Runtime Environment for Windows CE, Version 1.1, Beta 1

[randall]

Things like VBScript and JavaScript and even Flash aren't 100% supported on PPC. And these are the official plugins. Dunno how Personal Java would handle it- I thought I had a Mips version, but maybe I was dreaming.

You know the mantra of Java anyway: compile once, debug everywhere

[cryo]

this is my personal pros/cons list of java on mobile devices:

pros:
- OTA (over the air) download support
- "quite" compatible
- easier to program, more object oriented than C++
- small
- VM can be implemented in hardware
- will be everywhere in the near future
- good documentation and support

cons:
- too slow for really cool games
- easy to crack/manipulate deployed apps
- it's gonna take some time until a decent GUI style for mobile devices is standardized
- each manufacturer has it's own API extending the VM, so to hell with compatibility.

Java is certainly going to play an important role in the future of mobile devices. That's mainly because of it's appeal to the operators, who are constantly trying to increase ARPU, and Java offers them the best technology for that at the moment. They don't want users downloading apps via their PCs and installing them on the mobile device using an USB cable, they want users downloading the apps directly into the device, thus generating airtime costs. Since PDAs are fusionating more and more with cellphones, we will see a lot of Java on PocketPCs in the near future.

cryo

[refractor]

[cryo]

i don't want to start another pointless language battle here. I was mainly comparing both possibilities from a commercial point of view, not a technical one.
From a technical and even emotional point of view, there's nothing like getting dirty with C/asm

cryo

[refractor]

Sorry, yeah, I didn't mean it as a kick-off to a language war.

Almost every computer language is created for a purpose and has a "niche" all of its own A "language war" is always pointless. "Horses for courses".

Cheers,

Refractor