Inside WAP: Programming Applications with WML and WMLScript

One way to distinguish a technical book is by the gut feeling it gives its readers. Pekka Niskanen's high-quality Inside WAP makes you feel confident that you can, with study and diligence, make a living developing Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) programs for mobile telephones and other wireless devices. The book's explanations of the technologies that are involved, primarily Wireless Markup Language (WML) and WMLScript, are clear and technically accurate--Niskanen had the support of a technical reviewer from Nokia, as well as his own consultancy. If you have knowledge of HTML and JavaScript, you'll have absolutely no problem following the author's stepwise approach to his subject languages--and very little trouble figuring out WAP, if it's the environment for your first effort at application scripting.

Niskanen's approach to teaching WML and WMLScript is a popular and proven one. He explains the requirement for a particular language element, shows its general syntax, and presents a boiled-down example. Many readers will wish for straight language documentation that's better suited to alphabetical lookups, but what's here works. Probably, you'll need to acquire--either through education or hired talent--the skills that are needed to develop the server-side components of your WAP, even though this book does a remarkably good job of introducing Common Gateway Interface (CGI) programming with Java servlets and Perl. The server-side material here certainly should be enough to help you both figure out what you need and communicate intelligently with specialists. --David Wall

Topics covered: The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), particularly its client-side markup language (WML) and scripting language (WMLScript). All interface elements get attention, as well as WMLScript logic, events, and communications capabilities. Server-side coverage goes to Perl, Java servlet programming, and the Nokia WAP Server (which appears on the companion CD-ROM). Software examples were tested on the Nokia 7110 telephone, the Ericsson MC218 palmtop, and a couple of standard simulators.