Summary
On a handheld device where you are trying to minimize production costs and maximize battery life, you can’t afford to throw away processor cycles or resources. Network access brings its own challenges. As a rule, it is slow, unreliable, and complex. Fortunately, there are guidelines to create enlightened Palm Network applications. A Palm Network application should:
Be self-explanatory
Provide only the essential forms and features
Be safe to explore
Avoid user input wherever possible and provide assistance where user input cannot be avoided
Walk lightly on the platform
Avoid the network insofar as it is possible
Minimize network traffic
Yield to others
Closely monitor network operations
Never leave its partners hanging
It is not only a matter of responsiveness, although as resources are consumed and cycles wasted, responsiveness will suffer too. It’s a matter of working well on the application platform.
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