Related link: http://www.superwaba.com.br/en/default.asp
I’ve been thinking a bit about wireless devices lately and somehow ran across Superwaba. I can vaguely remember, back from the days before J2ME (or even “Personal Java”) talking to the people who founded Wabasoft a few times. Judging from their website, wabasoft is apparently defunct. But Superwaba descended from Wabasoft, via an open-source path.
The question is: if I were trying to develop a handheld application, would would I use J2ME and when would I use Superwaba? Or should I avoid them both, in favor of something else?
Please note that I’m looking for facts and experienced opinions. Please don’t flame me or your fellow commenters.
MIDP
well, it comes down to what you want to code to...as far as i know, the number of mobiles that can run J2ME's MIDP are in the hundred millions, and this profile can be found from Symbian phones, to BREW phones, to Linux and Windows powered phones. The new J2ME's Personal Profile can now also be found in the upcoming Nokia 9500 enterprise phone as well.
superwaba? well, if you like hacking for fun and nothing else, maybe that's your game.
Superwaba really is super
I've been using Superwaba for over a year now, having been disappointed with the lack of progress and features within J2ME MIDP (you still can't use PIM features for god's sake). Superwaba is very powerful and allows cross-platform access to just about all the features on both PalmOS and PocketPC.
It's very comprehensive and mature now with a large user base who contribute, thanks to open source. You have the control that you would never have with MIDP. Let's say that you were asked to write an app for a Palm that takes info from a database over http. You write it with MIDP. The customer then wants it to place an entry into the address book. What do you do? Tell them that the api doesn't allow this?
I've written several apps with Superwaba. Using the new SWJump utility, I can now quickly convert them into native code! I have a Palm program that reads from a Bluetooth GPS and shows local POIs read from a database of 2500 entries. This works like a dream thanks to SWJump, very fast and stable.
If you want an overview of SW vs J2ME - http://www.superwaba.com.br/en/swxj2me.asp
I've been enthusing about it like mad now and wouldn't consider using anything else. If your wanting to program in Java on a PDA, then there really is nothing to touch it.
OPL
You should check out OPL as well
http://opl-dev.sourceforge.net/
OPL is an interpreted BASIC-like language purpose-built for Symbian OS. Mainly Series 60
Superwaba really is super
"I have a Palm program that reads from a Bluetooth GPS and shows local POIs read from a database of 2500 entries" - is this available anywhere?
Cheers
Fairly soon
It will be in beta within the next couple of months I hope, the next thing to do is create the desktop application to convert POIs from CSV format to a pdb file. It'll appear on PalmGear and Sophonix.com.
MIDP
"superwaba? well, if you like hacking for fun and nothing else, maybe that's your game"
Hacking? Have you even tried SuperWaba? SuperWaba is a very mature and robust system. And with its upcomming version 5 which will implement Simple Direct Media Layer (SDL), it will be able to run on everything from Windows to Max to Linux based devices. It is already the only one to my knowlege that runs on both the Palm and PocketPC devices without even changing one line of code! So I guess it does come down to what you want to code. If you want to code an application that runs on Windows/Mac/PocketPC/WinCE/Palm and soon Linux and others, with a very powerful and robust system, then choose SuperWaba.
-Dan
MIDP
Can someone recommend a good site for getting started in superwaba programming? What commercial software has been written using superwaba?
MIDP & SuperWaba
Just starting to use SuperWaba for commercial software both on Palm and CE (Mainly Symbol Tech Units). www.lowther.com Previously we wrote the same functionality for CE and Palm using C++, twice the effort.
Why use Superwaba?
1. Basically because it is always up to date. New CE/Palm hardware comes out, you just recompile the C source and away you go.
2. Excellent cross-platform capability (Symbion platform support is coming)
3. Ability to create fast C code and hook it into a Java Library.
4. Ability to fix bugs in the JVM (Or should I call it the sWVM!).
5. Freedom from Sun and its dubious support for handheld equipment.
6. A superb fast piece of bytecode reading.
7. A safer environment for my programmers to work from than C++.
8. Ability to create your own look and feel and use it accross multiple platforms.
David
MIDP
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