Java Development

[raviteja2007]

Hi,

I have developed an android-app which uses native features like offline caching of data, location, barcode-scanning, audio-recording, etc.

I have just started developing the blackberry application. I have researched quite a bit about Blackberry development, and I have gone through both Java and Webworks SDK's. I need to decide which SDK I should use, given the limitations of both.

User Interface, Performance and Time to Market are very important for us. I have heard that Webworks SDK has performance issues when compared to Java SDK (and also slow loading of pages). 

Can you people provide your insights on this?

Thanks,

Ravi

[peter_strange]

Can I introduce another factor in your equation...

http://supportforums.blackberry.com/t5/Java-Development/DevCon-update-BB-Java-is-dead-no-java-suppor...

Looking at your original question, AFAIK, there are not many people who have a good working knowledge of both WebWorks and Java so I think you re going to find it difficult to get an objective comparison.

I don't know Web Works at all  There is a WebWorks forum, so you might like to ask about integration of bar code scanning and Audio-recording.  I believe offline caching and location finding are definitely available in WebWorks

Having just about finished an Android port, I found a lot of the Android Java code could be converted to use in BB.  I created several Android emulating classes (like Context, DBAdapter, Intent) and in a lot of cases could cut and paste the Android code.  The biggest issue I have had has been the UI, more importantly, the variety of screen formats and sizes available on BlackBerry has meant we have had to rework the Ui depending on the screen size.  Don't underestimate the time that this will take.  And creating some Ui Components that looked as good as Android components took some time, so I suggest porting to BlackBerry Java is not something I would give to a junior BlackBerry programmer. 

But if you use java, I suspect you will end up with something that looks a little like your existing Application, which may be good for maintenance and future development. 

Unfortunately if you choose Java you will have to rewrite in at some stage soon to work on the BBX phones. 

[raviteja2007]

Thanks for the reply.

Did you hear any performance issues with Webworks SDK?

Btw, does barcode scanning work for devices with OS 4.5 +, if I use Java SDK ? I found a javascript extension for WebWorks SDK which supports only devices with OS 6+.

-Ravi

[peter_strange]

I believe the barcode extension you are talking about is reliant on the built-in barcode processing that was added in OS 6.0.  This is, from my understanding basically a version of ZXing and it is possible (at least going by forum posts on here) to integrate zxing into earlier OS's, if you are prepared to do it yourself.  Then if you wanted to use it in WebWorks on an earlier release, you could write an extension.  However I think you will find that WebWorks is only supported on OS 5.0 and above, so this will probably not achieve your objective of OS 4.5.  That said, do you really mean OS 4.5?  I would not recommend you develop for phones older than OS 5.0.  Have a look here for some interesting figures on OS levels in use.

http://us.blackberry.com/developers/choosingtargetos.jsp 

[raviteja2007]

Thanks for the response. I got the point about barcode scanning.

I got to know that the webworks apps runs on a wrapper which is an instance of BrowserField of Java SDK.
What about the performance for apps developed using WebWorks SDK when compared to Java-based apps?

I think this post will be useful for other people who are starting to develop too.

There is also a big advantage for Webworks SDK, which helps to develop cross-platform applications with minimal changes (removing all the blackberry apis, depending on the application), using a wrapper like PhoneGap.

[peter_strange]

"What about the performance for apps developed using WebWorks SDK when compared to Java-based apps?"

Interesting questions.  I was playing round and thought I would give WebWorks a try.  I down;loaded the UiExample and installed it.  Running on the Simulator, it is significantly slower than a real Java Ui.  I'm going to try it on device, but I was a little disappointed with the performance. 

[raviteja2007]

Let me know your insights when you run on the device.

[raviteja2007]

I also found performance problems when I ran 3-4 applications on the device. I am thinking to go with native, as I will also have a greater control over UI elements.

[peter_strange]

Not had time to test, and probably won't in the next day or so.

"I also found performance problems when I ran 3-4 applications on the device." can you explain what you were testing at the time?

"greater control over UI elements".  I suspect this is true, but be aware this will be at significant cost in terms of development time.  And remember, given current announced plans, the java platform is effectively entering end of life......

[raviteja2007]

I was talking about the loading time between pages I am viewing.