What programming languages target J2ME?

Question

I recently received a Nokia 5000 phone. Now I want to write software for it. Trouble is, I don't know Java.

Now I've heard of other languages which supposedly make possible development without recourse to Java, languages like CellularBASIC (which looks a bit like QBASIC) and Hecl (which seems to be based on Tcl).

Are these the only ones? Links, please!

Answer 1

(I wrote Hecl, by the way, so ask away if you have questions about it)

I think there is a version of Forth floating around, and maybe an attempt at Lua.

J2ME is still a fairly limited environment though, so you're not going to get 'kitchen sink' languages unless they compile down to Java bytecodes. Symbian phones support some sort of Python, but that's not J2ME.

Answer 2

If you are going to make an effort to learn a new language anyways, you should definitely consider Java. Not only will it help you in your current goal, but in today's market, it is a valuable skill to have.

If the vastness of the language intimidates you then you can consider learning ActionScript which is a close cousin of JavaScript. It's simple and has a C-like syntax, ships with a powerful library and costs nothing to begin with. Making stuff in ActionScript is fun.

But my first preference would still be learning Java.