Port java builders to J2ME

[sam]

Hi all

I am a beginner for Javabuilder.I tested the demos and wrote a small
example. It seems very impressive, mainly it's extensibility to new
components make this tool very flexible. In the documentation i read
that the builder can be configured to work even with other languages
GTK+QT. Therefore I believe there is high possibility to configure it
to work with J2ME.
I have some question regarding this.
1.Are there any developer documentation available?
2.How much the build engine depends on J2SE only features Eg.
ArrayList Serialization etc..
3. I like to use LWUIT component library in J2ME, How much effort
requires it to port J2ME


Pls help me. If i am successful i can contribute my work to the
community.

[Jacek Furmankiewicz]

Hi, it's not that complicated to get the *basics* working on a new
toolkit. I got some early prototypes in GTK-Java and SWT.
The problem is it takes you little to get the basic 60-80% done and
then forever to cover the last 20% to make it really complete.

Especially replicating the full flexibility of MigLayout on platforms
where it is not available
or beans binding (SWT does not support it).

So I aborted those efforts and they never got anywhere serious.
If you have the time go ahead. Look at the code on github for the
dormant SWT/GTK projects to get an idea how to start on a brand new
toolkit.
I have no experience on J2ME, plus these days I am really more
involved in server-side programming,
so it's not an undertaking I can complete.

But if you're willing, I'd be glad. Just fork me on github and get
cracking :-)

Jacek

[Jacek Furmankiewicz]

For the dev documentation, there is a little section at the end of the
PDF for 'extending javabuilder' and that is about it.

Have no idea on what the diff is between J2SE and J2ME. In most cases
it relies heavily on reflection more than anything else.
Without it it can't work. So as long as that is in J2ME and LWUIT you
have a shot at it.

Feel free to ask any questions as you go along. The best way is to try
to replicate my Swing demo one by one in your toolkit.
Start with the basics: the main frame, then menus, then tabs, then
controls in a tab, etc, etc. One by one.

Jacek

[sam]

Unfortunately J2ME not support Reflection nor Generics and ArrayList,
Serialization. Also i worry about other dependent libraries. May be it
is difficult to port the existing code. So i think about
reimplementing it in J2ME. Is it possible? If so then can you provide
underlaying logic and methodology to me. I think i do not need any
logging or beansbinding. Because they will create overhead in J2ME
devices. Core think which needs to be implemented is creating the UI
and layout from
YAML. I like to know how much this core feature depend on the other
libraries(except SNAKE YAML).

[Jacek Furmankiewicz]

Without generics you cannot do it easily. You would need to manually code EVERY single mapping from YAML to Java settters, on every control, etc.

Not sure how large LWUIT is, but I am sure it will take you a LONG time.

You can live without MigLayout or betterbeansbinding (they are pluggable), but doing layout management is going to be very challenging.

Without reflection, I would give up on it.

Jacek

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[sam]

> You would need to manually code
>EVERY single mapping from YAML to Java settters, on every control

If i do not have any other option then i am ready to do this. For the
movement we do not have plan to support all components of LWUIT. I can
design the api in such a manner that is extensible by others.Others
can plug classes to handle other UI components. But already android
support reflection.

>layout management is going to be very challenging

Lwuit have some layout managers. for the movement i can survive with
them.

can u provide the underlaying logic behind the builder then i can
easily understand the
code.

[Gregg Bolinger]

I'm sorry but I have to ask (even though I am not active on this list anymore), why would anyone spend time porting *anything* to J2ME?  Why not focus on Android?  Seems like a huge waste of time and effort.

-- 

Gregg Bolinger

[sam]

>Why not focus on Android?

For the movement i have only small idea about android. I think j2me
port work without any problem in android . There is a large set of
handsets are using J2ME Nokia and Sonyericsion are some of them. Pls
advice me on this. I like to consider trade offs between easiness and
lost of portability.

[Gregg Bolinger]

I suppose it depends on your market.  In the US, J2ME is all but dead.

-- 

Gregg Bolinger

[Jacek Furmankiewicz]

Well, it depends. I recall a Dzone article recently where J2ME was AHEAD of Android in the global market.

The reason was as mentioned the millions of non-smartphones all over the world (especially in developing countries,

where the price of an iPhone or Nexus S is prohibitive).

But, nevertheless, without reflection...porting JavaBuilders to J2ME may be extremely hard, if not impossible.

I am pretty sure the reliance on reflection APIs is baked into the deepest core of the engine.

Jacek

[sam]

Hi Jacek

Any way is it possible to remove other libraries? yes then how?I think
snakeyaml is a vital one.
Pls help me.

[Jacek Furmankiewicz]

No. SnakeYAML is as crucial to Javabuilders as Collections to Java.

Sorry.

[sam]

>SnakeYAML is as crucial to Javabuilders as Collections to Java.

yes i know it. I am asking about other libraries.Not snakeyaml

[Jacek Furmankiewicz]

Other libraries are minimal. You can easily live without miglayout and BBB.

See the experimental GTK-Java port for a sample:

https://github.com/jacek99/javabuilders/blob/master/javabuilder-parent/javabuilder-gtk/src/main/java/org/javabuilders/gtk/GtkJavaBuilderConfig.java

At the core of any toolkit integration is a <YourToolkit>JavaBuilderConfig class, like the one above.

it tells which classes are recognized, which children to expect under which class, etc.

On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 11:41 AM, sam <sams...@gmail.com> wrote:

>SnakeYAML is as crucial to Javabuilders as Collections to Java.
yes i know it. I am asking about other libraries.Not snakeyaml