Chapter 22 Using the .NET Compact Framework and Its Emerging Technologies

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Page 643

Chapter 22
Using the .NET Compact Framework and Its Emerging Technologies

PEOPLE WANT TO REMAIN connected to the Internet—and to their computer applications and files—no matter where they are. The current buzzword is mobile computing. This phrase has several meanings, but the one we're focusing on in this chapter is: How to squeeze programming and I/O into the highly restrictive platform of small, portable devices like PDAs and cell phones.

This chapter offers you an overview of the technologies and tools available to the VB.NET programmer who wants to extend their programming skills into the mobile arena. We'll explore the ways that .NET addresses the needs of users and programmers within the limitations imposed by mobile devices: as you'll see, this is truly computing lite.

Writing programs that will work on a cell phone is a bit like traveling back in time about twenty-five years to the day when personal computing was just getting started. Processor speeds were much slower than today's desktop machines enjoy. You had very little memory to work in, so you had to be careful and conserve this precious resource by avoiding such memory-hungry luxuries as graphics. And there was another reason to avoid graphics: You had to deal with I/O constraints such as low-resolution, black and white, text-based screens, and little, if any, mouse capability. Although most early computers were more restrictive (32K RAM was considered a lot of memory), today's mobile devices are nonetheless significantly less powerful than today's personal computers. The mobile platform demands a different kind of communication with the user.

The .NET Framework is designed for desktop computing, and to run on servers managing Internet sites. The .NET Framework runtime is large; it simply cannot fit within the memory available to mobile devices. The solution: a new framework, the .NET Compact Framework, a condensed, stripped-down version.

Team Fly 


Visual Basic  .NET Power Tools
Visual Basic .NET Power Tools
ISBN: 0782142427
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 178

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