Last friday I downloaded the Java Wireless SDK to take a look that Java MIDP. I was surprised how easy it was to setup a little project an write a simple hello world application. The Java Wireless SDK has a nice tool called KToolbar to setup new projects, build them and run them in the emulator. You can also build a jar archive that can be transfered and install on the handset. So after a view minutes a had build a nice HelloWorld application and installed it on a Nokia 7610.
The next thing I programed was a little application that connects to a webserver via http and downloads a file from the server. There a many examples programs on the java.sun.com website how to accomplish this, so this was also quite easy. I installed the application on the phone, started it and entered the url. Then the dialog for the grps connection opened, and after choosing one the download started. After the download was finished I closed the application ant the grps connection was automatically terminated.
But the thing that impressed me most is how short the java programs are compared to Symbian C++.
HelloWorld application:
Java: 35 lines of code
Symbian C++: 400 lines of code
HttpConnection application:
Java: 85 lines of code
Symian C++: 1100 lines of code.
Both, the Java and Symbian C++ applications have quite the same gui.
My opinion is that there must be really really good reason to implement applications using Symbian C++, but I think that is really hard to find, because Java MIDP 2.0 is quite good and has lots of features, and the most important thing is
that Java MIDP can be found on every Symbian based handset.