For Dummies BlackBerry Application Development 978-0-470-46711-4 用户手册

In This Chapter

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Discovering BlackBerry apps and why to develop them

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Collecting the right tools

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Sharpening the right skills

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Meeting the challenges of BlackBerry development

A

 BlackBerry application is meant to be small, fast, and responsive to 
its users. BlackBerry smartphones are small, fast, and function as 

mini-communications centers: a phone, text-messaging system, e-mail client, 
and Web browser. Your app should give the user the same kind of experience 
as the standard apps that come with the BlackBerry, providing information 
quickly and easily with a minimal amount of input.

In this chapter, I show you what tools, skills, and ideas you need to gather 
and discover to start developing BlackBerry apps.

Why Develop BlackBerry Apps?

The BlackBerry App World from Research In Motion (RIM) provides a mar-
ketplace devoted to BlackBerry users, and a great many apps of all different 
kinds have yet to be built. BlackBerry devices have been around a while, 
mostly as mobile corporate e-mail connections, but the individual consumer 
is now getting into BlackBerry devices as well, increasing the number of 
places your app can be running. Figure 1-1 shows the Home Screen of my 
BlackBerry Curve, with the BlackBerry Browser Application highlighted. 
Figure 1-2 shows the Browser while running.

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