It doesn't matter if it is 50 billion or 24 billion, just suffice it to stay that there will be MANY connected devices in the year 2020. With just 24 billion devices, they will outnumber humans six to one! So as a developer, you don't want to ignore this opportunity. What if you could use your Java skills and deploy an app to a fraction of these devices (don't be greedy, how about just, say, 118,000 of them)? Fareed Suliman, Java ME Product Manager had lots of good news for Java Developers in his presentation Modernizing the Explosion of Advanced Microcontrollers with Embedded Java at ARM TechCon in Santa Clara, CA last week. "A radical architecture shift is underway in this space, from proprietary to standards-based," he explained.
He pointed out several advantages to using Embedded Java for devices:
Java is a proven and open standard.
Java provides connectivity, encryption, location, and web services APIs.
You don't have to focus on and keep reinventing the plumbing below the JVM.
Abstracting the software from the hardware allows you to repeat your app across many devices.
Abstracting the software from the hardware allows allows parallel development so you can get your app done more quickly.
You already know Java (or you can hire lots of Java talent).
Java is a full ecosystem, with Java Embedded plugins for IDEs like Eclipse and NetBeans.
Java ME allows for in-field software upgrades.
Suliman mentioned two ways developers can start using Java Embedded today:
Java ME Embedded Suite 7.0
Oracle Java Embedded Suite is a new packaged solution from Oracle (including Java DB, GlassFish for Embedded Suite, Jersey Web Services Framework, and Oracle Java SE Embedded 7 platform), created to provide value added services for collecting, managing, and transmitting data to embedded devices such as gateways and concentrators.
Oracle Java ME Embedded 3.2
Oracle Java ME Embedded 3.2 is designed and optimized to meet the unique requirements of small embedded, low power devices such as micro-controllers and other resource-constrained hardware without screens or user interfaces. Think tiny. Really tiny.
And think big.
Read more about Java Embedded at the Oracle Technology Network, and read The Java Source blog Java Embedded Releases from September.
