Overview

A MIDlet is a Java application that conforms to the MIDP specification. MIDP applications are portable across mobile phones and can handle differences in screen size and button layout, as well as the low memory and small footprint of a mobile phone.

Typically, a MIDlet is a game or application that you download from the Internet and use on a mobile phone. A MIDlet can be made up of:

• JAD file, a small file that describes the attributes of the larger JAR file. One function of the JAD file is to let a mobile phone determine whether it has the capability to run the JAR file prior to downloading it. A JAD file can contain information, such as:

  MIDlet-Name: Bounce
  MIDlet-Vendor: Nokia
  MIDlet-Version: 1.0.1
  MIDlet-Jar-Size: 25978
  MIDlet-Jar-URL: http://domain/directory/Bounce.jar
  MIDlet-1: MIDletName, MIDletIcon, MIDletMainClassName

• JAR file, which contains the actual pre-verified MIDlet. A JAR file contains the class, image, and sound files gathered into a single file and compressed for faster downloading to your SDK or device.

• JAR manifest (manifest.mf), which contains information similar to the information in the JAD file. The JAR manifest is located within the JAR file and is available only after you’ve downloaded the JAR file.

Create MIDlets by following a typical create-build-test development cycle. For example:

To develop a MIDlet in Eclipse:

1. Creating a new project for the MIDlet

2. Import the MIDlet source code into the project.

3. Creating the MIDlet application package

4. Test the MIDlet by running it on the SDK.

5. Debugging the MIDlet

For more information on creating and testing MIDlets on the SDK, see:

• Setting up the SDK to run a MIDlet

• Overview

• Using the SDK with Eclipse overview

• Using the SDK with NetBeans

• Additional information about MIDlets

• Running the SDK from a command line overview