A computing application for a mobile information device is generated from An extensible markup language, MIDML, in which different types of tags correspond to different application functions. A command line compiler parses the MIDML specification, reading the tags in specialized readers, which are then accessed by generators of specialized objects for an object model using different generators for each type. A predefined set of tags is extendible by the application developer. The generation process results in Java source code, which is then compiled into a MIDlet and packaged into a JAR file and a JAD file.