Jython and J2ME

[Clay Shirky]

Can Jython be used to write applications to run in J2ME environments?
I ask because Python seems an ideal language for teaching students to
write applications for the phone or other mobile devices.

If this is possible, I would be grateful for any pointers to a
Jython/J2ME reference.

-clay

[Hannu Kankaanpää]

cl**@shirky.com (Clay Shirky) wrote in message news:<25**************************@posting.google. com>...

Can Jython be used to write applications to run in J2ME environments?
I ask because Python seems an ideal language for teaching students to
write applications for the phone or other mobile devices.

If this is possible, I would be grateful for any pointers to a
Jython/J2ME reference.

Short answer: No.

Size is an issue, because the current mobile devices can only
handle very small applications, like 32 kB or 64 kB JAR size.
You couldn't even fit the Jython interpreter in that space,
since it's over 900 kB. I don't know about Jython's memory usage,
but I'm certain it would also become an issue.

Jython's speed is also a problem. Mobile devices are very slow,
so adding another layer of abstraction with Jython would
make the J2ME applications way too slow to be useful in practice.

Java is not that hard a language to teach or understand. It's just
cumbersome to write :P