ABSTRACT
Embodiments of the invention may provide methods and/or systems for converting a source application to a platform-independent application.
Source programming language code of the source application may be translated to target programming language code of the platform-independent application. The source programming language code may comprise Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) code, and the platform-independent programming language may be independent of one or more device platforms. Further, one or more source resources associated with the source application may be converted to one or more target resources.
Translation of programming code
An Inventor: Dr. Tal Lavian
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the invention may generally relate to programming language code translation and more specifically to translation of Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) programming language code.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various users across the globe communicate or perform various activities on computer and device networks.
Moreover, the users interact with each other through the networks, such as the Internet. Typically, the users use devices like personal computers to interact over the Internet. The users can interact from various Internet websites or social networking sites, for example, Facebook, Myspace, Hi5, and Orkut etc. Recently, the development in mobile devices such as cell phones, smartphones and PDAs, computers, laptops and the like has enabled them to be used for performing various activities on networks such as the Internet. Moreover, the mobile devices can be used for real-time interaction with other users on the network. The interaction or communication can be in the form of chatting, playing interactive online games, browsing, shopping, music, video, banking, business and the like.
The rapid pace of innovation in technology has generated various types of devices and platforms. Moreover, the number of devices is increasing rapidly. For example, there are various operating systems available for the devices such as Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and Symbian, etc. Moreover, a large number of J2ME platforms are available for the mobile devices such as cell phones. Furthermore, the mobile devices have a wide rage of capabilities in terms of screen size, screen type, screen resolution, processor, and memory etc. The applications for these devices have to be developed based on their platforms. Therefore, each application has to be ported to other platforms. For example, in case of computer games the programming languages typically used are JAVA, C#, C++, Action Script, and the like. Therefore, an application developed in Action Script programming language may have to be ported to other programming language when not supported by a device platform. Further, new applications are being continuously developed for different device platforms.
Typically, the programming code of an application is translated manually from one programming language to another. However, manual translation requires specific and in-depth knowledge of the programming languages of the different operating systems. Moreover, manual translation is a very time consuming process. Furthermore, the programming languages are constantly developed or get modified. Moreover, the applications have to be developed on specific development platforms compatible with the programming language used for development and the operating system of a device. As a result, a completed revision of the application code may be required to make the interaction possible. Some mechanisms, such as emulation of applications, are available to support multiple devices. However, the existing mechanisms generate application program codes that are large or require heavy processing time. The problem is compounded with the continuously increasing number of device platforms and technology.
Various media applications on devices such as mobile phones are developed using the CLDC. CLDC is a specification of a framework for Java™ Micro Edition (ME). JAVA™ ME applications are targeted at devices that have limited resources. Examples of such devices include mobile phones. Generally, the configuration of devices, such as mobile phones, may vary by device type, capabilities, operating system, qualities, characteristics, electronics, communications, media capabilities and so forth. Moreover, native applications are typically pre-installed in the devices, cannot be removed, and are ready to run. Some of the applications are always running while others are started by the user via the menu. Users are able to further customize their mobile devices by loading additional applications (e.g., instant messaging, games, etc.) onto these devices.
Porting or translation of these applications to new or different devices generally requires manual porting for each specific device. However, the process of manual porting is difficult and slow. Moreover, the manual process is not efficient with the rapid development pace of new devices, platforms and capabilities.
A mechanism is therefore desirable to translate the CLDC programming language code of an application into a target programming language code based on target device platform.
SUMMARY
Various embodiments of the invention may provide a method for converting a source application to a platform-independent application.
The method may comprise translating source programming language code of the source application to target programming language code of the platform-independent application, wherein the source programming language code may comprise Connected Limited Device Configuration code, and wherein the target programming language is independent of one or more device platforms. Further, the method may comprise converting one or more source resources associated with the source application to one or more target resources.
Embodiments of the invention may further provide an apparatus for converting a source application to a platform-independent application. The apparatus may comprise a code transformer configured to translate source programming language code of the source application to target programming language code of the platform-independent application, wherein the source programming language code may comprise Connected Limited Device Configuration code, and wherein the platform-independent programming language is independent of one or more device platforms; and a resource converter configured to convert one or more source resources associated with the source application to one or more target resources.
Some embodiments of the invention may further provide a system for converting a source application to a platform-independent application. The system may comprise means for translating source programming language code of the source application to target programming language code of the platform-independent application, wherein the source programming language code may comprise Connected Limited Device Configuration code, and wherein the platform-independent programming language is independent of one or more device platforms; and means for converting one or more source resources associated with the source application to one or more target resources.
Some embodiments of the invention may further provide a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for converting a source application to a platform-independent application. The method may comprise translating source programming language code of the source application to target programming language code of the platform-independent application, wherein the source programming language code may comprise Connected Limited Device Configuration code, and, wherein the platform-independent programming language is independent of one or more device platforms; and converting one or more source resources associated with the source application to one or more target resources