Android:AProgrammer’sGuide
IntroductiontoAndroid
Android, as a system, is a Java-based operating system that runs on the Linux 2.6
kernel. Thesystemisvery lightweight andfull featured.
Android applications are developed using Java and can be ported rather easily to the
new platform. Ifyou havenot yet downloaded Java or areunsure about which version
you need, I detail the installation ofthe development environment in Chapter 2. Other
features of Android include an accelerated 3-D graphics engine (based on hardware
support), databasesupportpoweredby SQLite, andan integratedwebbrowser.
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 supportsthe newer,
XML-based UI layout. XML UI layout is a fairly new concept tothe average desktop
developer. Iwill coverboththeXMLUIlayout andtheprogrammaticUIdevelopment
inthesupporting chaptersofthisbook.
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
executedwith the same systempriority asthosethat arebundled 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 isexecutedwithin itsownthreadusing a
verylightweightvirtualmachine.
Asidefromthevery generousSDKandthewell-formedlibrariesthatareavailableto
ustodevelopwith, themost excitingfeatureforAndroiddevelopersisthatwenow
haveaccesstoanythingtheoperating systemhasaccessto Inotherwords ifyouwant. ,
tocreateanapplicationthat dialsthephone, youhaveaccesstothephone’sdialer; if
you