Sun open sources Lightweight UI Toolkit for mobile devices

The LWUIT Demo Sun Microsystems has released the Lightweight UI Toolkit, LWUIT, for Java ME under an open source license. LWUIT is Sun's response to the difficulties developers have creating consistent and portable user interfaces on Java ME phones and mobile devices.

Sun introduced LWUIT at the JavaOne conference this year to try and address the proliferation of UI options for JavaME and hoping to create a single compelling UI toolkit for all Java ME devices. Terrence Barr, Senior Technologist at Sun said "It's been three months since JavaOne and the success of LWUIT has surpassed our wildest expectations... As a result many mobile developers including major commercial companies have already committed to using LWUIT for their upcoming projects. Clearly, LWUIT has struck a nerve."

LWUIT is inspired by the Swing toolkit, with a Model-View-Controller architecture and pluggable look-and-feel. LWUIT also has touch screen support, animations and transitions and internationalisation and localisation features.

Sun fulfilled the promise it made at JavaOne to open source LWUIT in releasing the code under the GPL2+Classpath Exception. This licence allows developers to binary link LWUIT to their application and obfuscate their proprietary code. LWUIT is still in active development; the open sourced release of code added a range of new features such as SVG image support, component z-ordering and glass panes.

Alongside the LWUIT project home page, Sun has opened an incubator project for developers wishing to work on the LWUIT code.

(djwm)