The Planetarium

For those of you concerned about Java ME fragmentation, you were probably pleased about the creation of JATAF - a group of mobile companies (and Sun) getting together to try to sort out the issues of differences in implementation, quality, and performance that even the best API specs can't always iron out.

Such organizations often flirt with an excess of hot air, but happily, this organization is taking a practical approach - by basing their efforts around collecting up a big set of tests that plug into a test framework that originated in a Sun testing product called JDTS for mobile devices that can run its 12,000 or so tests on Java ME mobile devices and that's been around for quite some time. Such tests assume API compatibility, which is what the JCP requires, taking testing to a deeper level by probing the other implementation qualities such as reliability and performance.

One step that made this possible was the open sourcing of the test framework, the Java Device Testing Framework from the Sun product. So now folks can sign up to JATAF and submit tests into the framework for all to use. There's over 70 already. You can read more at Terrence's blog, or listen in to the latest Java Mobility Podcast.