Java for Pocket PC: Power and Portability

If you've gone online, you've probably played Java based games and used Java utilities. It's everywhere. Java was developed years ago by Sun Microsystems to provide a convenient, compact language that will do anything you want on any computer you choose. It was advertised back them as perfect for doing everything, from running your toaster to running your corporate finances. Today, with Bluetooth remote technology, Java's promise has become reality. You can really do all those things Sun talked about years ago, and often you can do them with Java for pocket PC-using your pocketPC as a remote system.

But there's more to Java than games and cool things to do with your toaster. It's an easy program to learn, relatively speaking. If you're interested in programming as a career or as a hobby, you can learn Java more quickly than most languages because it's written in an intuitive manner. With the proper DLLs and tools installed on your handheld computer, usually either a MIDP API or a PDA version of the language, you can develop your own games and applications. MIDP allows you to run Java on your cell phone, but with midpng.ppc.cab, you can develop cell phone based applications on your handheld computer.

If you want to focus on creating applications for handheld computers, you can download one of a number of engines to develop PDA software. You should be careful about what you download and what you create because Sun no longer develops Java development tools for handheld computers, so either develop on a secondary computer or make sure you run good backups, just in case.