Developing Java-Based Mobile Games

For game development GUI development experience with AWT and SWING will be helpful though not mandatory.Browser games are played using mobile phone's built-in microbrowser (net browser for mobile devices), either in online or offline mode. Players can play such games online through their cellular carrier's or a third-party game provider's game Web site, or download them for offline gaming. This category includes a wide range of games, such as solo or multiplayer games, network games, offline games, arcade games, and so forth.

Mobile games can be developed using C++, Java (Java 2 Micro Edition, to be precise), and the Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform from Qualcomm.

Although C++ has the advantage of being compiled into native code with direct access to system resources, and with BREW the platform provides end-to-end solutions to mobile game developers while allowing them to work with any desired language (including C++, Java, XML, and Flash), Java is the most popular choice for game development. Java, or the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) platform to be precise, is identified as the most convenient for developing mobile games. (For more specifics on J2ME, see "What is Java 2 Micro Edition?") The driving forces behind J2ME's popularity are:

• J2ME enjoys the status of an industry standard backed by all major handset makers, with most of the present day mobile phones being Java-enabled.
• J2ME is a free and open platform. This helps keep the development costs low and provides the necessary flexibility with ample support freely available for developers using it.
• Its highly portable nature ("Write once run anywhere") ensures that a game application written for one brand/type of handset will work with all other brands/types of Java-enabled handsets.
• It is especially optimized for small devices, is lightweight, and is highly secure because applications written on it cannot access or affect other applications running on the phone/device.
• J2ME consists of the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) API that is designed specifically for developing applications for mobile devices including mobile phones, keeping in mind their limitations and constraints. Furthermore, the latest MIDP version 2.0 itself dedicates a whole API to game development, making game development simpler and quicker.