dirk van schalkwyk supervisor: prof greg foster co-supervisor: mrs madeleine wright project title: a...
TRANSCRIPT
Dirk van SchalkwykSupervisor: Prof Greg Foster
Co-Supervisor: Mrs Madeleine Wright
Project Title:A Comparative Study of JME and Flash Lite
for Mobile Data Services
Presentation OutlinePresentation Outline
• Problem Statement
• Project Objective
• Approach
• Analysis and Results
• Conclusion
• Questions
Problem StatementProblem Statement
• High investment in mobile technologies• In 2006, voice calls declined by 28% for
prepaid and 22% for postpay customers (UK)• Mobility companies turn to mobile data services• Need the right development tools to ensure the
rapid and efficient creation, deployment, and management of custom content on mobile phones
DefinitionsDefinitions
• Mobile data service: any service on a mobile phone other than voice e.g.
SMS (Short Message Service), Mobile Chats, Number Portability [Vodacom, 2007]
• Flash Lite a version of Adobe Flash Player designed for mobile
phones
• JME (formerly J2ME) a Java Platform consisting of a set of technologies and
specifications developed for mobile phones
Project ObjectiveProject Objective
• Develop a prototype incorporating selected APIs developed under Flash Lite and JME.
• Test effectiveness of competing standards.• Conclusions drawn will enable a trade-off
decision as to which platform to use for a particular mobile data service.
ApproachApproach
JMEFlash Lite
Client/Server communication across a wireless network
XML server response
SQL commands
Web Server
Database
DemoDemo
Analysis and ResultsAnalysis and Results
• Foundation Language
• Available IDEs
• Emulator platforms
• Dynamic XML handling
• GUI designing
• Multimedia capabilities
• Persistent Storage
• Packaging and Deploying
• Mobile device diversity
Foundation LanguageFoundation Language
Comparison and Evaluation:
• Both languages allow platform independence.
• Java is more robust and secure as JME applications never escape from the confines of the JVM and therefore will not write to device memory that does not belong to the JVM.
Flash Lite JME
ActionScript 2.0 Java
Available IDEsAvailable IDEs
Comparison and Evaluation:• Various IDE options are available for JME each providing better
features for writing code whereas Flash Lite offers a powerful GUI designer not available in JME.
• Adobe Flash Authoring IDE is an expensive proprietary software and therefore JME is recommended if financial resources are limited.
Flash Lite JME
Adobe Flash Authoring IDE NetBeans, SunOne Studio, Eclipse
Proprietary Open Source
Features include:•code auto-complete•debugging•powerful GUI designer
Features include:•code auto-complete•syntax highlighting•refactoring•extensive debugging•obfuscator
Emulator PlatformsEmulator Platforms
Comparison and Evaluation:
• Key features are provided by both platforms including memory analysis, network management and monitoring, object creation (JME only) and persistent storage monitoring.
• JME provides a more comprehensive feedback in the form of graphs and tables allowing for better application testing.
Flash Lite JME
Adobe Device Central (bundled with IDE)
Sun Wireless Toolkit, S60 SDE for MIDP
Dynamic XML handlingDynamic XML handling
Flash Lite JME
Automatically parses the XML document
Programmatically parse the XML using SAX, XmlPull or DOM
Write code to access specific nodes within the XML tree
Manipulates data in the XML tree using a set of API methods
Required 11 lines of code Required 29 lines of code
Dynamic XML handling cont… Dynamic XML handling cont…
Comparison and Evaluation:
• Flash Lite is recommended as it parses the XML faster and requires less coding, reducing possible errors, application size as well as the time to create the application.
Time (milliseconds)
GUI DesigningGUI Designing
Comparison and Evaluation:
• Flash Lite provides fast, easy and efficient creation of rich GUIs not possible with JME.
• Flash Lite’s stronghold in the mobile industry.
Flash Lite JME
Flash Authoring toolkit No graphical designer
‘drag and drop’ graphical components
Programmatically create graphical components
Multimedia CapabilitiesMultimedia Capabilities
Flash Lite JME
Depends on the Device video player for video playback
The JVM handles video playback
Methods include play, pause, resume and stop
Available methods control features such as volume, rotation, scaling and screen size
Only streaming possible on Nokia devices
Mainly http download possible though streaming also possible
Multimedia Capabilities cont…Multimedia Capabilities cont…
Comparison and Evaluation:• JME allows greater portability and video control compared to Flash
Lite which relies on the capability of the device.• Flash Lite video streaming is recommended when dealing with large
video files as play starts quicker and they do not take up a lot of device memory.
• Caution required when opting to stream video as it may be blocked by firewalls.
Time (milliseconds)
Persistent Storage Persistent Storage
Comparison and Evaluation:
• JME is recommended if other applications are required to access stored data.
• Flash Lite is an advantage if considering the lines of code required and this could also reduce error occurrences and speed up application development.
Flash Lite JME
Storage size determined by the device
Specifies a minimum of 8KB and a maximum of 30KB
Does not support sharing of stored data with other applications files
Other JME applications can access stored data
Required 7 lines of code Required 27 lines of code
Packaging and DeployingPackaging and Deploying
Comparison and Evaluation:
• Both platforms produce small packaged file sizes and deploy them through USB, Bluetooth and OTA.
Flash Lite JME
.swf (Flash file), .sis (Symbian installer), .cab (Windows installer)
JAD and JAR files
File size of 355KB (.sis) File size of 209KB
Mobile device diversityMobile device diversity
Comparison and Evaluation:
• Both platforms provide effective features to address device diversity.
Flash Lite JME
Defines different versions of Adobe Flash Lite runtime engines for specific groups of mobile devices
Divided into configurations, profiles and optional APIs standardized through JSR 185
ConclusionConclusion
• Analysis and tests showed various strengths and weaknesses of the JME and Flash Lite platforms enabling trade-offs to be made when developing specific mobile data services.
• Generally, JME provides more control and functionality through its numerous APIs whereas Flash Lite allows for the rapid creation of applications with rich GUIs.
Questions?Questions?