THE TECHNICALITIES
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
WAP is one of the major open international standards for application layer network communications in the wireless world. Its primary use is enabling internet access from wireless devices. Browsers on mobile phones are WAP browsers. WAP browsers provide all the same services of a computer based web browser, though they are simplified. The simplification allows them to work on mobile phones with their smaller screens. If you plan to create an application for a wireless device it must be housed on a WAP capable website. The WAP standard was developed specifically to allow interoperability between the many different network technologies and software devices that are inherent in the mobile network. Because wireless companies operate on several different technologies (CDMA, TDMA, GSM), WAP was the answer to bridging the technology gap for internet access. Think of WAP as a gateway that sits between a mobile phone and the server that houses your website/application.
Wireless Markup Language (WML)
In order to create a WAP capable website, the website must be written in, or dynamically converted to, WML, so that it can be viewed with a WAP browser. Wireless Markup Language is based on the language XML, but has been modified to be able to work with devices that use WAP. WML was essentially the first markup language designed to work with WAP devices.
However, as technology increases, we’re finding that other markup languages are being used with WAP, including XHTML and even standard HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). These markup languages are very similar to WML, but require higher processing power from the mobile device. Therefore, WML is still one of the safest and simplest bets for optimizing a website for wireless de vices, though it has some limitations that can be overcome once programmers can move strictly to XHTML or HTML. But, for today, there are still too many mobile devices out there that simply don’t have the processing power required to work with those markup languages.
Getting Help
For the purposes of this book, we’re assuming that you’re not an expert in WAP or WML. The information above is intended to give you a very basic understanding of the programming skills required to create a wireless application. Hopefully, now, you have some understanding of the skills you need in a programmer and you can talk to them somewhat effectively.