Introduction to Android Apps

Android applications are developed using Java and can be ported rather easily to the new platform. If you have not yet downloaded Java or are unsure about which version you need, I detail the installation of the development environment in Chapter 2. Other features of Android include an accelerated 3-D graphics engine (based on hardware support), database support powered by SQLite, and an integrated web browser. If you are familiar with Java programming or are an OOP developer of any sort, you are likely used to programmatic user interface (UI) development—that is, UI placement which is handled directly within the program code. Android, while recognizing and allowing for programmatic UI development, also supports the newer, XML-based UI layout. XML UI layout is a fairly new concept to the average desktop developer. I will cover both the XML UI layout and the programmatic UI development in the supporting chapters of this book.Android Apps Development One of the more exciting and compelling features of Android is that, because of its architecture, third-party applications—including those that are “home grown”—are executed with the same system priority as those that are bundled with the core system. This is a major departure from most systems, which give embedded system apps a greater execution priority than the thread priority available to apps created by third-party developers. Also, each application is executed within its own thread using a very lightweight virtual machine.Android Apps Development Aside from the very generous SDK and the well-formed libraries that are available to us to develop with, the most exciting feature for Android developers is that we now have access to anything the operating system has access to. In other words, if you want to create an application that dials the phone, you have access to the phone’s dialer; if you want to create an application that utilizes the phone’s internal GPS (if equipped), you have access to it. The potential for developers to create dynamic and intriguing applications is now wide open.Android Apps Development On top of all the features that are available from the Android side of the equation, Google has thrown in some very tantalizing features of its own. Developers of Android applications will be able to tie their applications into existing Google offerings such as Google Maps and the omnipresent Google Search. Suppose you want to write an application that pulls up a Google map of where an incoming call is emanating from, or you want to be able to store common search results with your contacts; the doors of possibility have been flung wide open with Android.Android Apps Development