|
|
Sponsored Links
-
Speed-up HPC Grid Apps - FREE Download
FREE Download 1- 13 Distributed caching eliminates data bottlenecks. ScaleOut StateServer®
Android just reproducing Java ME's problems, now
Submitted by Josh Fruhlinger on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 13:03.
Is Android a Java platform? It's certainly Java-esque, in the sense that for the most part you write apps for it in Java code. But it's not blessed by Sun or tested for compatibility -- in fact, it's incompatible with standard Java in several specified ways; its VM isn't an official JVM; and, to make things wackier, the Java it's based on is Java SE, not Java ME. This drives folks like Hinkmond Wong, Sun's Java ME blogger, crazy. But you can make a decent argument that the sorry, fragmented state of Java ME brought made Android inevitable. With its crazy quilt of different implementations on various handsets and OSes, Java ME was never going to be the platform for the next generation of desktop-quality apps; a new platform was necessary to help Java code take over the mobile world.
Except! It turns out that Android is hitting all the same fragmentation problems as Java ME, and in record time! Not only are there three different versions of the Android OS out in the wild at the moment, but different handset manufacturers customize the platform and add their own specialized ROMs, with the result that code that runs on one phone completely borks out on another.
You can say a lot of negative stuff about how Apple handles the iPhone -- their arbitrary rejection of apps based on content is particularly egregious. But I think that their basic model, in which they tightly control the both the OS and the hardware, is boon for developers. It may be that the only way to have a platform that is truly standardized is to have one company in charge of it. Microsoft was essentially able to impose a more-or-less standard x86 platform spec on PC manufacturers by the sheer power of its monopoly, but nobody has ever managed to do the same for cell phones. Android was supposed to be developers' great hope, but it may be another sign that a truly interoperable platform can't be built by multiple companies with competing agendas. And that's something that ought to interest Java developers, whether they care about cell phones or not.
Sponsored Links
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Terms of Service/Privacy
Copyright, 2006-2010 Infoworld, Inc. All rights reserved.
Symbian
I think that Android resembles Symbian, not JavaME. Symbian suffers from all the same problems that you mentioned.
Lot of FUD about Android
Lot of FUD about Android these days... I'm an Android developer and let's be honest:
- yes it's not as easy as the iPhone (I had to workaround the same opengl driver bug for a particular model, like the company described it in this wired article). Bugs like this one will be solved, I'm not worried
- yes it's a moving target... Different form factors to handle, different resolutions, etc.
But honestly, every known and future platforms will suffer the same, at different degrees: how do you think iPhone developers will react when iPhone HD will be out with different resolutions to manage ?
- and yes it's fun to make some Android coding: even with these issues, I have the feeling (wrong, maybe, who knows) to make future proofed applications, not quick apps like J2ME or iPhone, made for a single manufacturer and dead/unusable in 2, 3 years, because companies change and usually don't give a shit about interoperability (Nokia/SE's specific JSRs, or Apple's SDK, it's the same to me...)
It's way too soon to tell if this will be a success or not anyway...
Dear, your last point is
Dear, your last point is sooo wrong.
Android Market is full of apps that work with Android 1.0 and break on 1.5, the ones that work on 1.5 and not on 1.6, and I'm sure that the same story will continue with 2.0.
Also, I'm sure that not all devices will be officially updated to 2.0, so your app written to work on Android 1.5 is not even close to being a 'future-proofed app' unless you release different versions for different devices
"so your app written to work
"so your app written to work on Android 1.5 is not even close to being a 'future-proofed app' unless you release different versions for different devices"
Oh please, this is totally FUD and you know it... have you ever tried Android development ? released an app? I'm developing with the SDK 1.5 and my first app is still working fine under 1.6 and 2.0 on all devices, thanks for asking. Only the second one was affected by this particular model bug.
Maybe in the end you will be right and I honestly will be the first to recognize it and move on but the platform is barely a year old, give it some time...
"2.0 on all devices" - oh,
"2.0 on all devices" - oh, you must be kidding us. Unless you're a hardcore hacker the ONLY device your 2.0 app can possibly run is Droid, no other device got 2.0!
I've developed and released Android apps.
I'm really glad that you personally didn't run into compatibility issues, but this doesn't mean that such issues don't exist.
I personally ran into issues related to incompatibilities between devices running the SAME Android version: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=574656
And I see lots of apps on the market that fail to work with each new released Android iteration. Take Toggle Settings for example.
Baruch Atta
The ANDROID logo, when read in Hebrew, means "Cup of Wisdom". Really.
I think it's time to build
I think it's time to build an Android multiple platform test bed...
Unfortunate
Its an unfortunate situation, we defiantly need interoperability but it looks like the only company that might be able to solve it is Adobe with Flash.
I had put my bets on Java in the mobile world but it seems every man and his dog wants to corrupt it.
Lets hope for a future where every App is hosted on-line, with the amazing things that are becoming possible with JavaScript I think that maybe the platform everyone develops for in future.
I can't comment on Flash
I can't comment on Flash interoperability, but my friends who develop on Flex tell me that it's not compatible between different devices.
Doomed!!
You're all doomed! Make nice wood furniture instead. It's easier and rather pleasant too.
This is not spam, is it?
This is not spam, is it?
I think it's a commentary on
I think it's a commentary on the coming obsolescence of Java programmers, or perhaps computer programmers in general ... heck, we could all do with learning how to make furniture!
Post new comment