Introduction

The mobile market is envisioned as next technological wave by leading industry experts. With approximately 150 million mobile phones - roughly 3 times user base as that of desktop computers - it might well be case. Due to fragmented nature of mobile market, with various manufacturers competing to get their share of pie, Java is once again poised to be best programming language for mobile market with its Write Once, Run Anywhere technology.

The specifications around Java for Wireless Technology initiative have been proposed and backed by most of leading mobile phone manufacturers (Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Siemens, T-Mobile, to name a few) and hence, one can expect device support and continued innovation.

The Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) offers a highly optimized virtual machine which can be used to run Java applications on devices ranging from resource constrained devices like smart cards, pagers, and mobile phones to high end devices like handheld computers and set-top boxes.

Keeping limitations of mobile devices - both in size and in memory - in mind, Java Community Process has developed a series of standards constructed in a modular fashion to ensure that various features are standardized while keeping architecture at an abstract level.

While J2ME itself includes a lot of other features and is also not limited to mobile phones, certification concentrates on developer's ability to create and install programs for mobile devices, such as cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

You might want to consider taking this exam

·If you are already into writing J2ME applications for mobile devices and want to be recognized for your skills. ·If you are a developer who has already written a few programs for wireless devices, preparation will give you in-depth knowledge of various concepts. ·If you are a seasoned J2SE/J2EE developer and want to start writing highly optimized Java applications for mobile devices, this certification is a jump-start for achieving same. ·If you do not have too much of an idea about technologies like Wireless Programming or Game Programming, preparing for this certification will be a great incentive to get a foothold in this technology. ·If you want to learn and master cutting-edge technologies that are round corner.

This article will provide a basic understanding of scope of certification and will also give details about certification along with useful resources to get started.

What you need to know?

The Sun Certified Mobile Application Developer (SCMAD) tests developer's knowledge in following five specifications.

Java Technology for Wireless Industry (JTWI 1.0)JSR-185 Connected, Limited, Device Configuration (CLDC 1.0/1.1)JSR-030/JSR-139 Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP 2.0)JSR-118 Wireless Messaging API (WMA 1.1)JSR-120 Mobile Media API (MMAPI 1.1)JSR-135

Exam Information

Prerequisites

You should have passed Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) - any version - to appear for this exam.

Objectives

Details of certification objectives can be found at Sun website. The major objectives are

1.JTWI (JSR 185) and Overview / JTWI-compliant Wireless Applications 2.CLDC 1.0/1.1 3.Security (both CLDC and MIDP) 4.Networking 5.Application Model/ Delivery/Lifecycle/Provisioning 6.MIDP Persistent Storage 7.Push Registry 8.MIDP UI API 9.MIDP Game API 10.Media using MIDP 2.0 and Mobile Media API 1.1 (MMAPI) 11.Wireless Messaging API 1.1 (WMA)

Passing Score & Time

The exam consists of 68 questions, and pass percentage is 55%. The time allotted for exam is 150 minutes. The fee for exam is $150 for U.S. candidates and might vary for other countries. Please visit Sun certification website for more details.

What you need to do? This exam might be slightly tougher than other exams since technology is fairly new and community support is limited.

Since API set is relatively small, you can cover topics quickly. On an average, it should take you around a week to cover each topic if you are familiar with Java and have written or attempted to write a few programs using J2ME. If you are new to wireless programming, you might want to allocate around 2-3 months (2 hours a day at least) for preparation.

To prepare for exam, it we recommend that you do following:

1.Download Java Wireless Toolkit (2.0 or above). 2.If you have a J2ME enabled cell phone, download toolkit from that vendor. For example, Nokia and Sony provide free toolkits and emulators that will help you program in those devices. 3.Download PDF versions of specifications mentioned above.

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