[nirmal_jatania]

Hello All...

I have just entered into the Blackberry Arena.

Now I am ready for the develop an application for the blackberry devices.

(1) But I would like to know that while I develop any app for blackberry, then should I target some fix devices ?

Or else which are the things that I should keep in mind while developing any new blackberry app ?

(2) Another thing I would like to know is like I have seen somewhere that I need to purchase a developer device for testing the app on a real device ... is it so ?

And if it the case then which device I should purchase so that I can test most of the app features in the device..

Thanks in advance...

[Dubdub]

Moved to a more appropriate section

[SamuelD]

Hello,
you need to identify which device model you want your application to support. These choices will dictate what API you can use and the screen size you should test your application with.

To test an application on a real device, you can use any BlackBerry. There is no such developper only device. You may need to purchase a set of signing key (only 20$) if your application use secure API. You can find more information on signing key here:

BlackBerry - Java Code Signing Keys

[baran_khan]

Originally Posted by SamuelD

Hello,
you need to identify which device model you want your application to support. These choices will dictate what API you can use and the screen size you should test your application with.

To test an application on a real device, you can use any BlackBerry. There is no such developper only device. You may need to purchase a set of signing key (only 20$) if your application use secure API. You can find more information on signing key here:

BlackBerry - Java Code Signing Keys

Agreed, in addition to that, considering the fact that you are fairly new to this domain, I would recommend to start with JDE 4.2.1 for learning purpose. This is most basic JDE version and would help you understand and explore blackberry capabilities. This is my personal view as I have used JDE 4.2.1 extensively for learning purpose but as Samuel has mentioned, in the end it all depends upon what device you wish your application to support.

[niansh]

Hi,

It depends on you for which device you are developing an application. If you are developing just for BlackBerry devices - you should go for RIM API for application development, which is availabe on the BlackBerry site. But then, this application will not work on any other devices like Nokia, Samsung etc.

If you want your application to be cross-platform i.e. device independent, i.e. it should work on all the devices, then you should go for Sun Java ME API. Only thing is that, those device should support Java. To check whether it supports or not, see the device's specifications.It should have supports MIDP and CLDC.

There is no need to purchase a device just for testing. There are emulators available for each of the mobile from each of the vendors, on their respective sites.

Following links may be useful for you.
Java Home: Before Starting Mobile Application Development...
Java Home: Integrating BlackBerry Emulator with the NetBeans IDE

Regards