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MIDP 2.0
With the release of MIDP 2.0, Sun has added significant functionality to the original platform. However, because the number of devices supporting these new versions remains limited, we will continue to develop games supporting both platforms, at least for the short term.
My recommended approach to this is to develop for MIDP 1.0 and then take advantage of the new features in the same way you would a MID-device-specific library. In Chapter 14, I'll show you how to achieve this in a relatively painless way using build scripts.
You'll take a much closer look at the new functionality in Chapter 19, "CLDC 1.1 and MIDP 2.0." However, Table 2.4 shows a quick summary of the new features.
|
Category |
Features |
|---|---|
|
Networking |
Support for HTTPS. Incoming data can now "awaken" your MIDlets. |
|
Audio |
Play polyphonic tones (MIDI) and WAV samples. |
|
UI |
Improved layout tools. Better placement control. New cool controls including the power to build your own controls. |
|
Games |
Support for graphics layers. Enhanced canvas tools. Integer arrays as images. PNG image transparency. |
|
Security |
Improved permission-based security system. |
There are many great features heresupport for quality sound, transparent images (by default), and a new game-oriented API are godsends.
In addition to all this, the hardware requirements for a MIDP 2.0-compatible device are increased; your application can now be as large as 256 KB (up from 128 KB), and the available run-time memory is now 128 KB (up from 32 KB). This is great news because memory capacity, especially the package size, was a severe limitation in MIDP 1.0.
Another related new release is the CLDC 1.1. This version adds some nice features such as floating-point support and a limited form of weak references.
Right now, though, the mass market has MIDP 1.0, so you should concentrate on developing for that. Your games will still be more or less the same when developed for the revised platform, just with slightly better everything. Think of developing under the current model as like swinging three bats before you head up to hit.
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