Conclusion

In this chapter you looked at the motivations, design, and inner workings of J2ME. You saw how the CLDC and MIDP specifications provide you with a solid foundation from which you can confidently develop games for MIDs, and then you reviewed the tools available to you as an application programmer. More importantly, you learned the parts of Java that aren't available.

One of the things that really stands out, though, is the limitations of the CLDC and MIDP platform. The memory, processors, networking, and graphics capabilities don't exactly lead the industry relative to "big box" gaming. But this is where the real difference is: You really can make a top-notch game with limited resources. And the great thing is, you don't need to sell your soul to a publisher to get a two million dollar budget to make a great gameif you even get through the door. Creating a hit J2ME game only takes you and maybe a few of your equally crazy friends. When you're done, you have solid ways of turning your work into real revenue.

You'll get to all this in later chapters. For now, take a look at the popular MIDs on the market and try to get a real feel for the devices for which you're developing.