When it comes to develop Java ME applications, every developer knows how problematic is to provide a consistent user expierence accross a set of different devices. Each manufacturer has different implementations of the standard.
On Sun’s words, “Due to implementation differences in fonts, layout, menus, etc. the same application may look and behave very differently on different devices. In addition much of the advanced UI functionality is not accessible in LCDUI and requires the developer to write very low level ‘paint’ type code.”
Very clear.
For overcoming this annoyance, many developers implement their own UI code or make use of some UI frameworks like J2ME Polish. We have talked about it.
Now, Sun comes to rescue with Lightweight UI Toolkit, promising “look and behave the same on all devices using a programming paradigm similar to Swing”. This is what all we were waiting for.
The toolkit includes not only UI controls, but other advanced theming, transitions, animations, etc.
By now, only what they name “early access library binaries” are available with a Sun License Agreement (SLA), what enables using the library for free in commercial applications. Source code will be soon available with a GPLv2 license.
Will this UI Toolkit become a de facto standard for solving - at least, helping to solve - fragmentation in JME?
I have not tested it yet, but this enters number one in my to-do list.
