"PDAs, Windows CE and EPOC"

Supervised by G.Manson

Abstract

The time that a computer operated in isolation seems to have passed irrevocably. The internet is one of the basic motives behind the purchase of a home computer while few companies do not install and use at least a local computer network. The ease of information access and exchange has revolutionised the way people and businesses work.

In the beginning it was information that was shared between computers and made available through a network as if it resided locally. Software is now moving in the same direction. Java and applets may have only contributed their small share and perhaps shown the direction.

Recent trends also indicate a move away from home PCs and the advent of portable consumer devices that will have equal privileges. In this project an attempt is made to capture some of these trends and show how both information and software can be distributed dynamically over a network, received and utilised without restrictions by different devices.

The project builds on the idea of a system that deals with student coursework in a department. It goes through various stages. It starts by capturing the requirements of the system and designing it. Following that, various technologies are researched, with Java being in the spotlight, in order to achieve the best solution in providing services that will give students the ability to submit coursework electronically and deal with a number of issues related to it. The aim is to provide such services that can, as much as possible, be used without location or device restrictions.