CSC 290: Mobile Information Device Programming

A fully online graduate special topics course

Instructor contact information

Instructor: Krishnan Pillaipakkamnatt

Email: csckzp@hofstra.edu

Phone: +1-516-3382706

AIM: krishnanp

Sections in this document

  1. Bulletin description
  2. Course text
  3. Course objectives
  4. Lecture schedule (with sample lecture)
  5. Frequently asked questions
  6. Software for the course
  7. Demos
  8. Downloadable applications

Bulletin description

Cell phones, PDAs and other small computational devices, their strengths and limitations; configurations and profiles; overview of programming mobile devices; standard and custom user interface elements and events; networking; record stores and persistence; text and multimedia messaging; drawing and animation using game APIs and 3D APIs; audio and video APIs; comparison of current technologies.

Prerequisites: CSC 017 or equivalent; moderate experience in Java programming

Course text

Beginning J2ME: From Novice to Professional, Third Edition (Novice to Professional)
by Jonathan Knudsen, Sing Li

Course objectives

Lecure schedule

Click here.

Frequently asked questions.

  1. What is this course all about?
  2. What is the format of this course?
  3. Can I meet you in person if I need help?
  4. I have other questions about the course.

What is this course all about?

Most modern cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are complete computational devices.  Their small size, however, limits their computational power, storage capabilities and input/output features. Developing applications for these network-enabled products poses new challenges for software developers.  The typical user of such a product expects software on them to be simple, reliable and easy to use.  Mobile device programmers who have only written programs for standard (large) computers will have to rethink many of their user interface and programming concepts. This course provides the necessary skills to be competitive programmer in an emerging multi-billion dollar industry.

What is the format of this course?

This special topics course is being offered in a completely online format. Lecture slides, animated demonstrations, example programs, and relevant software will all be posted on the Blackboard pages for this course. I will also hold online office hours during which time we will use the digital conferencing facilities in Blackboard to communicate with each other. I also hope that we have an active bulletin board where students can post questions, reply to each other and interact with me.

I am wary of taking a completely online course. Can I meet you in person if I need help?

Of course! If you live in the New York metro area, you are more than welcome to visit me during my "real world" office hours. I am also available at other times by appointment.

I have more questions.

Don't hesitate to send me email at csckzp@hofstra.edu, call me at +1-516-3382706, AIM me at krishnanp, or just drop by my office, Room 201B in Adams Hall.

Course software

We'll use Netbeans 5.5 for this course. This is available as a free download from http://netbeans.org. Don't forget to also download the Mobility Pack!

See an animated tutorial on writing mobile applications in Netbeans.

Demos

  1. Faculty lookup application
  2. Hangman game application

Download to your cellphone

  1. Faculty lookup application
  2. Hangman game
  3. Paddleball game