Forty percent of wireless developers are currently using the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) platform in their work, according to a Wireless Development Survey conducted by Evans Data in August 2004 -- a six-month increase of 33 percent. Another 24 percent of wireless developers are evaluating J2ME for future use.

"J2ME's growth can be directly attributed to widespread adoption of J2ME-capable devices in the consumer marketplace, increasing the demand for custom software. As this market grows, it follows naturally that more developers will create applications targeting this growing audience," Evans Wireless Analyst Jason Kaczor says. "Another reason for J2ME's surge: It's more cost-effective to develop J2ME-compliant code once than to customize or rewrite code for differing devices and operating systems."

The most important factor for developers facing a choice of platforms is the runtime environment (cited by 27 percent) -- for example, Java or .NET -- followed by the physical device, the operating system, and the popularity of the device.

Evans Data also asked participants about project plans and security. For example, 40 percent of developers plan to create user-initiated applications on the Java platform that let users download, install, and execute new applications, and another 19 percent are planning them for the next year; more than 80 percent said they "absolutely" or "probably" will connect their applications to corporate enterprise information. In addition, the survey reveals that the three most likely security mechanisms for wireless applications are public key infrastructure (cited by 15 percent), SSL/TLS connections (12 percent), and user authentication/password protection (11 percent).

Testing and debugging tools are the second most important wireless development tools -- 76 percent say they are "extremely" or "very" important. However, these types of tools also have the second worst satisfactory rating, with almost a quarter of survey participants indicating that they need improvement.