Furthering its support for Java-based mobile development, Oracle has announced Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) Mobile Client, an extension of the Oracle Application Development Framework. A component of Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle ADF Mobile Client allows developers to extend their existing skills into mobile devices. It simplifies application creation and deployment using a single, standard Java user interface (UI) framework and tooling for all supported devices. Developers can build once and deploy to multiple devices - and as support for new devices is added in Oracle ADF Mobile Client, applications can be deployed to the new platforms without redevelopment.
"It is all about linking the enterprise and mobile devices," Duncan Mills, senior director of product management for Oracle Fusion, tells 5 Minute Briefing. The approach takes Oracle's existing philosophy of "a single set of development skills, broadening the envelope to include native mobile applications which can run online and offline, and then managing all of the tricky data synchronization tasks on top of that."
Oracle ADF Mobile Client provides native mobile functionality, allowing applications to be deployed directly to mobile devices, with initial support for BlackBerry (RIM) and Microsoft Windows Mobile devices. With access to real-time and offline data and deep device services integration, Oracle ADF Mobile Client provides benefits for a variety of applications including field service, warehouse management, consumer goods/retail execution and sales force automation. Oracle ADF Mobile Client complements Oracle ADF Mobile Browser, a product that enables developers to build connected enterprise applications for a broad range of mobile browsers.
Based on the same programming paradigm as Java Server Faces (JSF), Oracle ADF Mobile Client delivers a highly productive, declarative development environment where the developer can work with a mix of visual editing tools and Java code to define a device-independent representation of the application. "Someone who is already familiar with building out Java Server Faces user interfaces and ADF applications as a whole will be able to transition into building these mobile applications really easily," observes Mills. Oracle ADF Mobile Client's single generic application definition is then rendered on multiple device types using the native UI for that platform. This approach removes the need for developers to overly specialize on a particular class of device or toolkit and allows the application to rapidly respond to the changing capabilities and platforms within the mobile space.
Oracle ADF Mobile Client allows the creation of Java-based applications running as local applications on the phone or mobile device, and also makes it easy to repurpose existing enterprise services and extend them into disconnected mobile delivery, regardless of the application's original design.
Other new capabilities in this release of Oracle ADF Mobile Client include offline and real-time access to enterprise data; local device hardware access; declarative barcode reader integration; and data synchronization between the device and the enterprise.
For more details, go to http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/adf/overview/adf-mobile-096323.html.