About BlackBerry ProgrammingBlackBerry Programming is written by software developer and author Eric Giguere. It's my attempt at providing some real-world programming advice for developers looking to build applications that run on the BlackBerry platform. Application development for the BlackBerry is different in many ways from standard Java ME application development. In many ways, it's a more powerful platform. But it's also hobbled by many of the same limitations as Java ME. There's also a lot of infrastructure built around the devices themselves that are important for developers to understand. And how to deal with Research In Motion. Eric's BackgroundAs a software developer with over 25 years of experience, I've picked up a thing or two about programming. I have the requisite education, too, with bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from the University of Waterloo. One of my classmates started working at RIM in the fall of 1990, way before the BlackBerry came along, which has allowed me a bird's eye view of the evolution of the device. I also know several other people there in various departments. (Not that this means much today given the size of the RIM contingent in Waterloo.) Back in the late 1990's I developed an interest in the nascent "Java 2 Micro Edition" platform, now known as "Java ME". This led to the publication of my second book, Java 2 Micro Edition and a fairly steady gig writing Java ME tips and articles for Sun Microsystems and other publications. It was natural to branch out and learn about the BlackBerry platform, since it's essentially a superset of Java ME, with a few (well, maybe more than a few...) quirks of its own. What you read here is some of the knowledge I've accumulated over the last few years, based mostly on my own experience and explorations. If you have a question, feel free to send me an email. I'm pretty busy, though, so don't expect an immediate or long-winded answer. If you're desperate and you're willing to pay for it, I do take on a very limited number of BlackBerry consulting engagements. |
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