Project help

[compNoob]

Hello,
I am an engineering student....and for my project i have deided to build a mobile application that will give details of my organization to its consumers via a mobile phone...they run local trains so you can basically get route information of these trains, the fare going to be charged, time it will take.., the graphical route the train will take to reach the destination...etc and so on.

I am confused as to what to build this project in...to use WML or J2ME . I have been given a duration of 6 months to complete it...

which would be a better option....WML or J2ME please help me...

Regrads,
Abigail Venturi.

[rdrincon]

Hello compNoob

If you only wish to display information to the end user... I would suggest to use only a wap based solution... in this case you may code in wml or xhtml-mp. In this way, any Wap enabled handset will have access to the information directly from its own wap browser by entering an URL.

If you want to download some information locally to the end user's handset and update it from time to time ... then you can use J2ME, this is the case also if you need to add some logic to the client... but remember... you need to provide users a means to download the application to their handset.

If you choose to use J2ME .... keep the application as small as possible to ensure size compatibility with as much handsets as possible.

Hope this helps a little

[compNoob]

Thaks a lot rdrincon for the help, it really helped a lot...but there is logic involved in my project which is to track down the train number that will take my user from source to destination..there are tables involved..

Can i use WML as front end if i have SQL as back end...

Regards,
Abigail Venturi.

[jappit]

Hi Abigail,

given that you need the service to be interactive (since the user must input its source/destination points), you can choose which technology best suits your needs considering these points:

* you need a rich graphical interface (with animations, for example?)
* you want to access native phone functionalities (like GPS?)
* does your app need to save data (e.g. text, images) on users' phones?

Depending on these, and many others, details you can decide which way is the best for you (in the cases above YES replies mean that you'll probably need to use the J2me approach).
As rdrincon said, with the WML approach you will have a broader phone support, while with J2ME you will have other advantages (like the possibility to have a richer UI).

In both cases (WML and J2ME app) you could always choose what architecture/technologies to use within your backend. What will change would be the data you expose to clients (for example: XML data to a J2ME app, or WML pages to phone browsers)

Pit

[compNoob]

Hi jappit,
Thanks a lot for your help. I am now developing it in WML and using back end as SQL, since all the answers to your set of questions is no..its a simple UI intended for common people service...and i will have broader phone range with WML.

Thank you again and you too rdrincon.

Regards,
Abigail Venturi.