Programming Applications with the Wireless Application Protocol

Book excerpt: The authoritative programming guide to the WAP standard from the creators of this breakthrough technology The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is the key force turning mass market wireless phones into Internet companions. These lightweight, inexpensive smart phones are well equipped for high-quality voice communication, modest-bandwidth (9-14 Kbps) data communication, seamless Internet connectivity, and access to Internet services via built-in WAP microbrowsers. Written with the creators of WAP, this book/CD-ROM package will guide you through the process of creating software for WAP-enabled cell phones and handheld devices. Steve Mann presents practical tools, code snippets, and complete applications that will help you best utilize WAP. He introduces you to the Wireless Markup Language (WML) that you'll be able to use to create WAP applications. And you'll learn about the key features of WMLScript, including the lightweight procedural capabilities and function libraries it adds to WML. Mann also: * Takes you step by step through the process of creating a real-world WAP application * Describes techniques for optimizing WAP applications * Shows how to create more sophisticated and interesting applications using graphics * Discusses the issues you'll need * in order to build WAP applications that will work around the world * Explains some of the advanced extensions to WAP * Suggests future directions in which WAP may evolve The CD-ROM includes: * All the source code from the book * A searchable version of the * unabridged WAP standard * The latest release of Phone.com's WAP Software Developer's Kit, containing the tools and documentation required to build real-world WAP applications Phone.com is a leading provider of WAP software and SDKs to developers, wireless carriers, and phone manufacturers. Phone.com cofounded the WAP Forum in 1997 and chaired the WAP Forum's first Board of Directors. Phone.com's software architects, who contributed to this book, chair WAP's technical specification committees. For more information about Phone.com and the Wireless Application Protocol, please visit www.phone.com For more information about the Wireless Application Standard,please refer to the Official Wireless Application Protocol: The Complete Standard with Searchable CD-ROM published by John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-32755-7 at www.wiley.com/compbooks/WAP