Wireless Application Protocol - technical definition

Defines a mechanism for accessing and delivering content over wireless networks. This set of network protocols, based on the layered OSI model, uses new networking protocols having functions similar to the Web protocols HTTP, SSL, and TCP. A nice feature of WAP browsers is that they can be implemented on small mobile devices such as cell phones, pagers, and PDAs. So, instead of coding content using HTML and JavaScript, WAP programmers can use WML and WMLScript. WML and its companion scripting language WMLScript are tag-based markup languages designed after the HTML model. The advantages are that WML demands less memory and processing power from browsers, as compared to HTML and JavaScript. Another asset to WML is that it was designed to be used in relatively small display sizes so common in wireless devices such as PDAs.

Although a number of WAP-enabled devices exist, their capability is generally limited to basic applications such as news feeds and stock quotes. Compared to other networking technologies, WAP is in the neophyte stages of development. A very bright future for WAP-enabled devices with more advanced networking capabilities is, however, in the making.

See Also: HTML or HyperText Markup Language; HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol); JavaScript; Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) Model; PDA (Personal Digital Assistant); Protocol; Secure Sockets Layer (SSL); TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol; Wireless.