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MIDlets are developed on regular desktop computers, although the MIDlet itself is designed to run on a small device. To develop MIDlets, you'll need some kind of development kit, either from Sun or another vendor. Remember, the MIDP is only a specification; vendors are free to develop their own implementations.

Sun offers two flavors of MIDP. The first is the MIDP reference implementation, which contains API documentation, build tools, and an emulator (Windows only) for a mobile phone. It is available here:

 http://javashoplm.sun.com/ECom/docs/Welcome.jhtml?     StoreId=5&PartDetailId=MIDP-1.0-WIN-G-CS&TransactionId=communitySource

The URL is split across two lines for readability. You will need to register to download the MIDP reference implementation, but there is no charge for registration.

Sun also offers the J2ME Wireless Toolkit, a collection of software built around the MIDP reference implementation. The Wireless Toolkit (or J2MEWTK, as it's awkwardly known) includes the reference implementation and a GUI tool that greatly simplifies the process of building and packaging applications. The J2MEWTK is available here: http://java.sun.com/products/j2mewtoolkit/.

Motorola also has a MIDP development kit, although you'll have to register (at no cost) to download it. You can find this kit at http://www.idendev.com/.

Research In Motion distributes a MIDP development kit to support their Blackberry product line of mobile e-mail devices. You can find it here: http://developers.rim.net/handhelds/software/jde/java.shtml.

Finally, Zucotto Wireless makes a MIDP development kit to support their hardware products. You can download the development kit at http://www.zucotto.com/whiteboard/.

Download and install whatever development kit you wish. I'll be using the J2MEWTK throughout the rest of the book. You'll notice this most in this chapter, where I'll go into detail about the build tools and the emulators. For much of the remainder of this book, I'll simply be walking through the MIDP APIs, so it won't really matter which development kit you're running.

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