Android is an open source and Linux-based operating system for mobile devices.
Android offers a unified approach to application development for mobile devices.
The first beta version of the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) was released by Google in 2007 where as the first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008.
Android offers a unified approach to application development for mobile devices.
The first beta version of the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) was released by Google in 2007 where as the first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008.
Features of Android
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Beautiful UI | Android OS basic screen provides a beautiful and intuitive user interface. |
| Connectivity | GSM/EDGE, IDEN, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE, NFC and WiMAX. |
| Storage | SQLite, a lightweight relational database, is used for data storage purposes. |
| Media support | H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 SP, AMR, AMR-WB, AAC, HE-AAC, AAC 5.1, MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP |
| Messaging | SMS and MMS |
| Web browser | Based on the open-source WebKit layout engine, coupled with Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine supporting HTML5 and CSS3. |
| Multi-touch | Android has native support for multi-touch which was initially made available in handsets such as the HTC Hero. |
| Multi-tasking | User can jump from one task to another and same time various application can run simultaneously. |
| Resizable widgets | Widgets are resizable, so users can expand them to show more content or shrink them to save space |
| Multi-Language | Supports single direction and bi-directional text. |
| GCM | Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is a service that lets developers send short message data to their users on Android devices, without needing a proprietary sync solution. |
| Wi-Fi Direct | A technology that lets apps discover and pair directly, over a high-bandwidth peer-to-peer connection. |
| Android Beam | A popular NFC-based technology that lets users instantly share, just by touching two NFC-enabled phones together. |
Android applications are usually developed in the Java language using the Android Software Development Kit.
you will need before you start your Android application programming.
- Java JDK5 or JDK6
- Android SDK
- Eclipse IDE for Java Developers (optional)
- Android Development Tools (ADT) Eclipse Plugin (optional).
Android SDK from Android official website : http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Android Architecture
Android operating system is a stack of software components which is
roughly divided into five sections and four main layers as shown below
in the architecture diagram.
Linux kernel:
kernel handles all the things that Linux is really good at such as networking and a vast array of device drivers
Libraries
On top of Linux kernel there is a set of libraries including open-source
Web browser engine WebKit, well known library libc, SQLite database
Android Runtime
Dalvik Virtual Machine which is a kind of Java Virtual Machine specially designed and optimized for Android.
The Android runtime also provides a set of core libraries which enable
Android application developers to write Android applications using
standard Java programming language.
Android Application Components
There are following four main components that can be used within an Android application:
| Components | Description |
|---|---|
| Activities | They they dictate the UI and handle the user interaction to the smartphone screen |
| Services | They handle background processing associated with an application. |
| Broadcast Receivers | They handle communication between Android OS and applications. |
| Content Providers | They handle data and database management issues. |
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