Phones Using Java

Java is a programming language that has grown rapidly in usage in recent years. It is available on all computer platforms and is now entering the world of mobile devices. Java was introduced to the market by Sun Microsystems, but it received support early on from the huge Unix community around the world. Some of its characteristics are that it is object oriented and has the capability to send applications to a device. These applications can then be executed in a PC or on a handheld.

Our earlier discussion concerning thin and thick clients (that is, whether an application resides in a server or on a device) now has a third option. This option is the use of so-called Java applets, or codes that are sent to a device and then executed on the device. Let’s look at an example.

You want to connect to your bank account to check your balance by using your PDA. After the authentication process, you choose the option “check my savings account balance.” The corresponding application is then downloaded to your PDA and you can check your balance as well as all your latest transactions.

There are two major benefits to this approach. First, you will experience much faster communication because most commands are merely executed on the PDA—all the information doesn’t have to be fetched from the central bank application. Downloading the application will not take a long time because it is possible to build the application in such a way that it is transferred from the bank to your PDA in just a couple of seconds. The second major benefit is that the application can be stored on the PDA once it is downloaded. This eliminates the need to download it again the next time you wirelessly connect to the bank, say the following week. Instead, all you have to do is run the saved application to gain access to your latest, updated savings account balance.

Java has very high expectations from the mobile industry. It remains to be seen if these expectations will be met.

Taken From : Enterprise Guide to Gaining Business Value from Mobile Technologies