JBit

There is usually no need for you to build JBit from source.

If you are looking for the J2ME version of JBit (for feature phones),
pre-built midlets
are available.

If you just want get an idea of what JBit is about and have
a modern browser (IE8+), a (limited)
webapp
is also available.

If you have Windows, you can find a precompiled EXE following the
instructions on this
wiki page.

However, for Linux(-like) operating systems, building the Native version
of JBit is recommended. Unlike the Javascript and the J2ME versions,
the Native version has few dependencies and should be fairly easy
to build.

Native Version

The following should work (tested mostly on debian, but occasionally on
NetBSD):

cd native
make

If you are missing ncurses (or have curses), comment out the offending
lines in the Makefile (or edit them), or install the relevant package
(libncurses5-dev on debian and ubuntu).

The resulting binary (jbit) is self-contained, so you should be able to
run it from anywhere. From now on, I will assume that you have it in
your path.

Switch to the sample directory and type:

jbit hello.asm

You should get back the usual message:

Hello, World!

JBit supports a binary format, if you really need it:

jbit -c jb hello.asm >hello.jb
jbit hello.jb

More information is available in the included jbit(1).
You can find a copy online here:
jbit(1).

JavaScript Version

The JavaScript version uses
emscripten, I assume you have
a working installation. At least, the following command:

em++

should produce:

emcc: no input files

Enter the js directory:

cd js

Fetch some additional libraries (ace and jquery) and some images (not kept
in the git repository):

make fetch

Copy some samples into the js directory:

make copy_res

Build the core:

make

The resulting directory can now be copied into a web server.

J2ME Version

To compile the J2ME Version from source you need:

• Java SE Development Kit.
  I use version 1.6.0; any version should be fine.
• Sun Java Wireless Toolkit.
  I use versions 1.0.4 and 2.5; again, any version should be fine.
• Ant.
  I use versions 1.6.5 and 1.7.0; I have no idea if you can use other versions.
• Antenna.
  I use version 1.2.1beta; older versions should work.
• ProGuard.
  I use version 4.4; older versions should work.

If your environment is setup correctly, you should be able to
compile JBit by editing Env.defs, entering midp/jbit and running ant.

Links

• JBit XHTML Site
  (optimized for feature phones).
• JBit WAP Site
  (for old phones / very low bandwidth).
• JBit Wiki
  (too heavy for most feature phones).