Product Description

The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) provides a universal open standard for bringing Internet content and advanced services to mobile phones and other wireless devices. Designed from the start to take account of the limitations of today's devices - small screen, low power and low bandwidth - WAP is the platform for the new generation of "media phones".

Professional WAP gives a broad overview of WAP and associated technologies - what it is, why it's useful and how to take the best advantage of it. It covers the WAP architecture and protocols, what WAP tools and servers are available for developers today and how to WAP-enable your web server. Practical examples will show you how to make content and services available over WAP using WML Decks and WMLScript. More advanced topics include administration, transactions, security, and integration of telephony with internet services (WTA).

The book is principally aimed at web developers who are experienced in HTML, scripting, probably some server-side technology, and who now want to find out how to apply their skills in the WAP world. It will also appeal to project managers, application architects or other professionals who want to gain an understanding of WAP technologies and how businesses could benefit from them.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1074718 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-27
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 813 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
This book is subtitled: With WML, WMLScript, ASP, JSP, XML, XLST, WTA , Push and VoiceMail--so you know straight away WAP is just the start of the solution. In fact, as this book is published, neither WTA nor Push works.

The authors start with a long panegyric to the wonders of WAP before discussing stack models and other arcana--knowledge of which, quite bluntly, will do little to aid you in developing WAP applications.

WAP development requires development software, including WAP phone (or other device) emulators. Unfortunately, in such a new and fast moving area this was out of date before they finished writing it. This is followed by a discussion on WAP gateways. The section on building and installing WapIT's Kannel WAP gateway under Linux is welcome and there's coverage of the trial version of Nokia's software under WinNT. You're then into application development with WML and WMLScript. Perhaps the funniest example here is the development of a car-buying application. Do the authors really believe anyone would ever buy a car via a text based WAP app on their mobile phone? Bizarre. While the technology examples using ASP, Perl and so on with WML show how to code such apps there is a frightening lack of realism in the examples. Have you ever tried writing an e-mail on a WAP phone? This is not realistic.

In fact, the whole book is about to be overtaken by events as WAP 2.0 is released with the lessons learned from the more successful Japanese i-Mode incorporated within it.

If you have to work with WAP today, buy this--you won't find anything more comprehensive. But if you just want to get up to speed on yet another new digital technology wait for the inevitable second version incorporating WAP 2.0. This will address many of the current usage and programmatic issues currently making WAP more joke than hope. --Steve Patient

From the Publisher
2000 is the year of the wireless web. The advent of a technology that allows us to access Internet content and services via mobile phone is revolutionizing the way we think about computing. WAP is the first step along this road, and with the advantages that m-commerce and 24-7 accessibility can bring, developers will need to get to grips with this new technology in order to stay one step ahead.

From the Author
Author Interview with Rob Machin, Richard Taylor, and Luca Passani.

What did you want to achieve with the book?

Richard: My main aim was to give developers some simple, practical guidelines on writing a real world WAP service with dynamic data, with minimum effort. At the time we started the book, there was only one book on WAP published. Although it was a good guide to the Wireless Markup Language, it was missing a lot of practical detail about gateways, the different types of browsers, how to hook existing services into WAP, and all general hints/tips/tricks you need to get started. Professional WAP now complements that original book nicely.

What's your vision for the future regarding WAP?

Richard: In 5 years' time, hopefully no-one will be talking about it - not because it's failed, but because it's so ubiquitous, like GSM in Europe. No-one says 'Look at my new GSM mobile', they don't care whether its GSM or not, they just use it and trust it does whatever they want. The same goes for WAP - users will get news, stocks, and search for information, and trust it to work, and work well, without worrying about how it was delivered to their phone or PDA. It's the service they care about, not the technology underlying it.

Luca: WAP is here to stay. With the possible exception of iMode it's the only real wireless technology we have today. Not only is it a standard the whole industry agrees upon, but iMode and WAP are regarded as 'converging' technologies by many. If you consider that personalization and location-based services will be integrated into the WAP framework in the not-so-distant future, you will start to believe that WAP is a technology to invest in.

Rob: Wireless communicators will merge the best of synchronous voice communication and asynchronous messaging services based on Internet mail. SMS has shown the value of messaging, but as the devices and networks mature, the more advanced Internet mail messaging protocols, SMTP and IMAP, will dominate the wireless messaging market. A universal inbox for voice mail, email and fax communications will be of a huge benefit to all those workers who must check these three separate channels each time they return to the office.

I believe that WAP technology will play an increasingly important part in the wireless technology arena as people and organizations come to appreciate the elegance of some of WAP's network and presentational capabilities. Once the current media deflation is over by the first quarter of 2001, WAP will be firmly established in the wireless market and will continue to develop as the primary browser technology for small wireless devices.

Customer Reviews

Suitable For All Levels
This book covers just about everything you need to know about WAP. Including WML, WMLScript, Client Emulation,WAP Gateways,Server Setup, WAP Protocol, Push Technology & Application development case studies using (XML, ASP, COLD FUSION, JSP), to name a few. It is a very readable book and also good reference material. The authors are sympathetic to the readers current skill in all integrated examples, and explain in detail the alternative technologies to ensure complete understanding. This resulting in me understanding the case studies utilising technologies which I am not familiar with. A must have for the wireless application developer. The only down side to this book is it keeps vanishing from my desk when I leave the room!

Great Coverage
Great book covering all the aspects of wap from development kits,gateways,security,wml. A "must have" reference book to have in your library

Excellent and informative
This is a great book and has something for everyone whether you are a newbie or serious WAP developer. It has good coverage of a range of popular issues (ie. FAQ) and cutting edge WAP topics. It also helps that most of the authors are leaders in their fields and really know what they're talking about.