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CodeWarrior eases mobile app development

Metrowerk's CodeWarrior PersonalJava Platform Edition 1.0 features a complete development environment for small Java devices

By Tim Fielden, InfoWorld, 05/12/00

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For those companies that are making honest strides toward supporting wireless, mobile-computing devices in their enterprises, many programming challenges exist. The need to balance performance, predictability, and robustness while making your applications suitable for a limited footprint makes these resource-constrained devices a difficult platform for which to design applications.

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TEXTBOX_HEAD: The Bottom Line

CodeWarrior PersonalJava Platform Edition 1.0

Business Case
This version of CodeWarrior gives organizations the tools they need to successfully develop applications for small Web-enabled devices. It uses the same IDE that previous CodeWarrior versions have used, letting you leverage current development talent.

Technology Case
CodeWarrior offers standard editing, debugging, compilation support, and such useful add-ins as JavaCheck, the Truffle Graphical Toolkit, and an emulator environment for testing. It supports creation of both Java and PersonalJava apps.

Pros

  • Excellent debugging capabilities
  • An easy-to-use development environment
  • A complete development suite
  • JavaCheck and PersonalJava emulation environment


Cons

  • Some beta bugs present
  • Missing help text


Cost
49

Platforms
Windows 9x/NT/2000, Mac OS, Solaris

Ship date
Mid-May 2000

Metrowerks Corp., Austin Texas; (800) 377-5416

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Fortunately, small-device programmers have a few tools at their disposal to make things easier. Key among these is Sun's PersonalJava standard, which allows those already proficient in Java to easily take on programming for small, mobile devices. PersonalJava is a subset of the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) and already has been licensed by more than 1,300 companies including TCI, Motorola, and Sony.

Metrowerks CodeWarrior PersonalJava Platform Edition Version 1.0 lets users make the most of the PersonalJava standard while including all the tools and functionality of the traditional CodeWarrior IDE (integrated development environment).

Judging by my recent evaluation of a late-release candidate, this version of CodeWarrior will be a powerful asset to those who are breaking into the Internet device space. It will provide the ability to create applications for high-end networked devices and other appliances that support the PersonalJava platform.

The benefits of using this CodeWarrior version will differ based on the type of implementation you're working on. For the device manufacturer, working in the PersonalJava application environment will likely mean faster time-to-market, as the time spent developing, porting, debugging, and supporting multiple code bases would be eliminated.

For the content provider, who will eventually need to support a large variety of end-user devices, including cellular phones, set-top boxes, and mobile handheld computers, using PersonalJava would mean that content could be provided in one format. This would allow the provider to focus on developing compelling content rather than using resources to repackage the content for use on a multitude of platforms.


For more enterprise computing news, visit InfoWorld. Story copyright InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.

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