High & Low Level graphics in J2ME

Question

Hi frnds, I wann to know what is the difference between high & low level graphics And what is the use of both ....

Thanks, Neel

Answer 1

High-level graphics is handled by the device itself (its implementation, to be more precise). Low-level graphics require you to draw it manually, but you are in full control of what will be displayed to the user.

Talking about Java ME almost everything in javax.microedition.lcdui package is related to high-level graphics. Low-level graphics is handled by Canvas and Graphics and also by the classes inside the javax.microedition.lcdui.game package.

The advantage of the high-level graphics is that it's very easy to use, since you are not required to draw anyhing by hand, so it's perfect to create UI fast. The disadvantage is that you are limited to the elements in MIDP 2.0 (the only extension possibiility is CustomItem) and you can't control how the elements are drawn. Low-level graphics allows you to draw anything on the screen, but it requires a lot of work to create a good UI manually.

Games typically use mostly low-level graphics, other applications use only high-level graphics or both. By the way, there are some alternatives like LWUIT, it is a library that uses low-level graphics to create UI.