Introduction to BlackBerry Cell Phones Programming

The BlackBerry range of phones is manufactured by Research in Motion. They offer a wide range of cell phones including smart phones. With the release of Pearl range of cell phones, BlackBerry has brought to the market stylish products that would appeal to even discerning customers. Previously used by business customers, it has attracted even non corporate clients now as earlier its applications had enterprise orientation.

The Java language has been used to develop all the latest BlackBerry handsets. Software programmers need to brush up their Java language skills if they are not proficient in that language. Those who are familiar with C# language would find it easy switch over to Java as the languages are similar. The Java version used in BlackBerrys is Java Micro Edition which is derived from Java 1.3 and not the latest Java 1.5. Hence programmers familiar with the functions of Java 1.5 need to go back to Java 1.3 version.

Even the library classes used are different. Blackberrys are built using a small subset of the Standard Java Edition library classes which are specific to the device. The Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) is the platform on which the new Blackberrys are based. Hence the software developer has to know J2ME in addition to the Java language. He/she has to be familiar with MIDP and CLDC standards as well as its configuration and profile in order to get a good grasp of the code. A good source of reference on programming tips on Java ME is the Sun Microsystem's Mobility Development Center.

The programmer has to understand the variations of the Blackberry platform after exploring Java ME. The latter is built on the CLDC and MIDP 2.0 version standards. Since there are certain changes, a pure application developed around MIDP and CLDC standard will miss out certain special features developed for BlackBerry. This is particularly true with regard to the Application Programming Interface or the API's. Other MIDP compatible tools like the Sun Java Wireless Toolkit can also be used to develop the application programs.

The BlackBerry Java Development Environment is the preferred choice of software developers interested in developing Blackberry specific software applications. The latter includes API's that are specifically written for use in Blackberry handsets. This JDE can be freely downloaded from the internet and includes Java Docs and also BlackBerry simulator.