[4th idiot]

We as final year computer engineering student going to do a project on making mobile application named "City exploraion using mobile".
So we want to learn mobile application development.
But confused with should we do it with .net or j2me?
Tell me if we developed with .net which all mobiles can support it?and same for java?
Can you send a link for mobile application development tutorial?

[macosxnerd101]

Moved to Mobile Development.

Java ME is a dying technology. It has a negligible market share in the smart phone market. The two major players are Android, which uses Java (it's own framework, not the J2ME platform) and iPhone (Objective-C). Microsoft has the Windows Mobile platform, which is good but doesn't have the market share of Android and iPhone. At this point, cross-platform isn't a reality in the mobile world. Regarding tutorials, check out the DIC Tutorials Section.

[RudiVisser]

You can use .NET for development across all 3 of the major platforms, Android, WP7, and iPhone.

For WP7, you can obviously just use the free developer tools, for others, look at both Mono for Android and MonoTouch.

I'd personally go with that, but obviously the cost may put you off. I think you can apply for a student license and/or open source license, but you'll have to do some digging yourself to find out for sure as it's been a while since I had a look at the projects. I've heard only good things, however!

EDIT: But there is a trial available, so you could always see if it's something you want to proceed with.

This post has been edited by RudiVisser: 28 July 2011 - 07:45 AM

[4th idiot]

I have installed visual studio 2008 in my desktop.In that there is option for
smart device project.I can also make an application here.
But I dnt knw on which all pltforms will it work?
like whether will it work on nokia or samsung or else?
Please tell me this.Can i do this way?

[RudiVisser]

Visual Studio's built in 'Smart Device' project will work on Windows Mobile.

If you download the Windows Phone 7 SDK, you can write applications for Windows Phone 7.

If you download Mono for Android, you can write applications for Android.

If you download MonoTouch, you can write applications for iPhone (note that Mac is required).

[Curtis Rutland]

And it's important to note that Windows Mobile is dying just like Java ME is. Windows Phone 7, on the other hand, is just really getting started. They just RTM'd their first major update (Mango). So we'll see if they really gain traction. There's a new lineup of phones coming out this fall, so I expect them to gain a bit, but how much remains to be seen.

So you'll need VS 2010, which you can get from the site that RudiVisser linked. I've never actually tried MonoTouch or Mono for Android, so I can't say how well they work. I know they produce usable applications, but I have no idea how similar they are to W7P development (which is very similar to Silverlight, since it is silverlight).

[Curtis Rutland]

One other thing I'd caution is that this is a very western perspective. I have no idea where you're from. I know that in places like India and the middle east, J2ME and Windows Mobile phones still have a lot of traction. In US and Europe, they're dead or dying. Android, iOS, and W7P are ruling the market. Symbian is literally dead. So take this for what it's worth.