September 6, 2010

Android Application Development

-- A Guide for the Intermediate Developer

Degree Thesis in Computer Science

Benny Skogberg
Computer Science Department
School of Technology
Malmoö University
SE--205 06 Malmoö
Sweden
+46 (0)733 – 66 18 99
[email protected]
 1. Abstract
The Degree Thesis in Computer Science focuses on development of Android applications to be used on a
handheld device running the Android Operating System (OS). It covers the basics such as setting up a
development environment, downloading appropriate tools and add--ons. The thesis serves as a guideline to
intermediate developers, seeking solutions to problems not discussed in available textbooks.

Android is a platform consisting of an operating system and a Software Development Kit (SDK) for handheld
devices. It originates from a small software company, acquired by Google and is now owned by Open handset
Alliance (OHA), where Google is a member. A description of Android is included and its advantages and
disadvantages are discussed. Resources and recommendations on Android development and Android
versioning are presented. Strategies on development are also suggested throughoutthis thesis.

The development for an Android device and its data traffic characteristics is of interest, which is also included
in this thesis. Connectivity and communication like connecting to Facebook and pulling data from an
internet--connected web server, is discussed.

2. Resumé
Examensuppsatsen i datavetenskap innehaå ller utveckling av mjukvara foö r Android som ska anvaö ndas av
handhaå llna enheter som anvaö nder operativsystemet Android. Uppsatsen omfattar grunderna saå som att
skapa en utvecklingsmiljoö samt att ladda ner laö mpliga verktyg och tillaö gg. Uppsatsen kan anvaö ndas som
riktlinjer foö r genomsnittsprogrammeraren som soö ker efter problemloö sningar som inte finns tillgaö nglig i
litteraturen.

Uppsatsen innehaå ller en beskrivning av Android samt en diskussion om dess foö rdelar och nackdelar foö rs.
Resurser och raå d foö r Androidutveckling ochAndroidversioner presenteras. Uppsatsen innehaå ller ocksaå
utvecklingsstrategier.

Utveckling foö r Android och dess egenskaper foö r datatrafik aö r intressanta, vilket ocksaå inkluderas i uppsatsen.
Uppkoppling gentemot Facebook och annan kommunikation saå som att haö mta data fraå n en webbserver
behandlas i uppsatsen.

Android Application Development ~2~ Benny Skogberg

 3. Contents
1. Abstract................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
2. Resumeé .................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
3. Contents................................................................................................................................................................................ 3
4. List of Abbreviations....................................................................................................................................................... 4
5. Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 5
6. Materials & Methods....................................................................................................................................................... 6
6.1 Literature Selection ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
6.2 Method................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
6.3 What is Android?............................................................................................................................................................ 8
6.3.1 Dalvik Virtual Machine and Android Applications................................................................................. 8
6.3.2 Android Structure, Java and XML................................................................................................................... 9
6.3.3 Android Versions................................................................................................................................................... 9
6.4 The Development Environment........................................................................................................................... 11
6.4.1 Android SDK......................................................................................................................................................... 11
6.4.2 Eclipse IDE ............................................................................................................................................................ 11
6.4.3 Android Virtual Device.................................................................................................................................... 12
6.4.4 Secure Digital Card............................................................................................................................................ 12
6.5 “Hello World!” as Test of IDE................................................................................................................................. 12
6.6 Test Application........................................................................................................................................................... 16
6.7 Developing Strategy................................................................................................................................................... 17
7. Result.................................................................................................................................................................................. 18
7.1 Facebook Connect....................................................................................................................................................... 18
7.1.1 Facebook Application....................................................................................................................................... 18
7.1.2 Facebook Connect for Android..................................................................................................................... 19
7.2 Networking.................................................................................................................................................................... 19
7.3 Data Synchronization................................................................................................................................................ 20
8. Discussion......................................................................................................................................................................... 21
9. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21
10. References ................................................................................................................................................................... 23

Android Application Development ~3~ Benny Skogberg

 10.1 Internet References...................................................................................................................................23
10.2 Lecture References....................................................................................................................................24

4. List of Abbreviations

3G International Mobile Telecommunications--2000 (IMT--2000) standards.

The third generation standards family for Mobile Communication.

ADT Android Development Tool. A plug--in for Eclipse IDE

API Application Programming Interface

AVD Android Virtual Device. To be able to compile your solutions and run them as
application on an emulator you need to setup at least one AVD

CPU Central Processing Unit

CRM Customer Relationship Management system

CSS Cascading Style Sheets

DDMS Dalvik Debug Monitor Server. Connects your IDE to your AVD emulator. Every
Android application has its own Virtual Machine, not interfering with each
other

HTML Hyper Text Markup Language

IDE Integrated Development Environment. In this thesis – Eclipse

J2SE Java Platform, Standard Edition

LBS Location--Based Service. Often used with a handheld devices’ Global Position
System receiver

MiB Mebibyte. 1 MiB is 220 bytes equivalent to 1’048’576 bytes

OHA Open Handset Alliance
OS Operating System
SD Secure Digital. A Memory Card used in handheld devices to increase storage.

SDK Software Development Kit. A Software framework to use whendeveloping

applications.

XML Extensible Markup Language.

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 5. Introduction
The computer has been in constant evolution since the middle of the 20th century. Computers are
continued to get smaller in size, using less power and performing more advanced calculations. In
2007 Apple released their iPhone to achieve the nextgoal in computing. This new type of
communication tool, called Smartphone, is generally referred to as a phone, which is a poor
labelling. A Smartphone is a handheldcomputer, which can place phone calls [5]. Although the term
Smartphone was first used in 1992, Apple was the first company to release a Smartphone to a
wider audience. This evolution is led bycomputer manufacturers and software companies and not
handset manufacturers, which have controlled the market thus far[5].

One competitor to Apple iPhone OS is the Android OS. Android originates from a small software
company, acquired by Google and is now owned by Open Handset Alliance (OHA), where Google is a
member. OHA has over a hundredmember companies such as mobile operators, semiconductor
companies, handset manufacturers, software companies and commercialisation companies. Driven
through the Apache License, anyone can use the AndroidSoftware Development Kit (SDK) to
develop applications to run on the Android OS. Especially interesting for Android is its use of
common non--proprietary techniques such as the Javaprogramming language in combination with
Extensible Markup Language (XML). This makes it open, simple and easy to use for a substantial
part of the developer community.

The thesis reflects experiences of using XML, the Java Programming Language and Android SDK.
Questions answered are the following:
• What is Android and how does it work using Linux, XML and Java?

• How does a developer install an Androidapplication on an Android device, without using

the Android market?
• What does a developer do to connect the Android application to Facebook Connect?
• How does a developer connect, and synchronize data, with an internet--connected server?

This thesis focuses on development of Android applications to be used on ahandheld device

running on the Android OS. The thesis covers the basics such as setting up a development
environment, downloading appropriate tools and add--ons and shows how to get developers
working with Android application development. In essence this thesis serves as a guideline to
intermediate developers, seeking solutions to practical problems, who might find current literature
a bit too shallow on giving answers to these questions, such as “How about the warning messages I
get when compiling Android applications” and “The AVD does not start whenI use a SD--card size of
2 MiB”.

Android Application Development ~5~ Benny Skogberg

Intermediate developers is in this thesis defined as developers having more than a year of software
development experience at university level or more than a year software development experience
as employees.

Since Android is a new software environment, there are few previous studies on this topic. Other
authors have made related work in books and articles, but a study likethis has, too my knowledge,
never been done before. Sharon P. Hall’s and Eric Anderson’s article “Operating Systems for Mobile
Computing” compares different mobile operating systems coming to the conclusion that Android is
uniquely positioned to facilitate all features of a Smartphone device [5]. Toshihiko Yamakami comes
to a similar conclusion stating “… foundation engineering and open source software significantly
impacts the software engineering in the mobile platform software”[10], based on his understanding
that no single vendor has the resources to develop all software (OS and applications). Jorge Aguö ero
et al. explain that the Java Android Library is similar to the Java Standard Edition in their article
“Towards on embedded agent model for Android Mobiles” [2].

Books [1] [4] [7] [9] on Android development also cover the setup of development environments on
different operating systems, but they fail to discussthe essential and fundamental aspect such as
role of the Secure Digital card (SD) size in the installation process. The author of this thesis has
reviewed such books and has noticed gaps and shortages in various areas. The literature [1] [4] [7]
[9] also has a tendency to discuss straight forward development and not the programmers’
everyday quest on finding errors. The thesis focuses on useful information for developers which is
hard to come by in books and articles. As the handheld Smartphone is primarily a communication
device, great attention will be paid ontelecommunication connectivity.

The thesis will not coverany financial aspects of Android. Although this thesis is not intended to
serve as a tutorial for developing Android applications, it will however present some examples of
code. This thesis has a focus on intermediate developers who wants to get an overview of Android
development and find useful information in setting up the development environmentand
connectivity with Android as well as finding answers to compiling errors they might run into.

6. Materials & Methods

6.1 Literature Selection
The selection of books for this thesis is not based on a random selection. The author only stated
one mandatory criteria of selecting books on Android development, the use of Android version 1.5.

• Android Programming Tutorials [7] by Murphy M. L. was selected to get the author quickly
up to speed on developing Android applications. It was the first search result using the
search string “Android tutorial” on the online bookstore Adlibris[11] December 18, 2009.

• Android Wireless Application Development [4] by Conder S. and Darcey L. was selected to
get the author a more deep understanding of Android fundamentals and features. It was the

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 first search result using the search string “Android development” on the online bookstore
Amazon [12] January 5, 2010.

• Pro Android Games [9] by Silva V. was selected to increase knowledge of graphic design,
since the gaming industry relies on graphics. It was the first search result using the search
string “Android games” on the online bookstore Adlibris [11] January 24, 2010.

• Unlocking Android [1] by Ableson F. et al. was selected to get the author a second book of
Android development fundamentals. It was the second search result using the search string
“Android development” on the online bookstore Amazon[12] January 24, 2010. The first
search result had already been purchased [4].

The selection of articles [2] [5] [10] used in this thesis is based on author’s evaluation from
searching in The ACM Digital Library[16] in December 2009. The criterion in the evaluation was
the three most relevant articles discussing development for Android handheld devices. From a
selection of 10--15 articles using search keywords; Android, Smartphone, OS and development in
various combination the author found these three articles most relevant.

• New Perspectives on XML [3] by Carey P. is literature taken from course Distributed
Information Systems at Malmoö University [24].

• Complete Java 2 Certification [6] by Heller P. and Roberts S. is literature taken from the
course Advanced Java Programming at Gothenburg University [22].

• Head First Java [8] by Sierra K. and Bates B. was selected by the highest user ratings by
participant of the course Advanced Java Programmingat Gothenburg University [22].

6.2 Method
This is an empirical qualitative study, based onreading above mentioned literature and testing their
examples. Tests are made by programming according to books and online resources, with the
explicit goal to find best practices and a more advanced understanding of Android.

One use case is presented in this thesis as a “Hello World!”--application, explaining what happens
behind the scenes. The other use case is a developed application which is presented at a conceptual
level.

Android Application Development ~7~ Benny Skogberg

6.3 What is Android?
“Android was built from the ground up with the explicit goal to be the first open, complete,
and free platform created specifically for mobile devices.”

-- Ableson F. et al., Unlocking Android, page 4.

Android is an open system, and is free to use by anyone. A handset manufacturer can use Android if
they follow the agreement stated in the Software Development Kit. Thereare no restrictions or
requirement for the handset manufacturer to share their extensions with anyone else, as there are
in other open source software, if they leave the Linux kernel as is. The Linux kernel is under a
different and more restricted license than Android.

Figure 1: Android Software Environment contains a Linux Kernel, Libraries,

Dalvik Virtual Machine, Application Framework and built-in and custom
applications. Illustration made by Benny Skogberg.

Android is a software environment and not a hardware platform, which includes anOS, built on
Linux kernel--based OS hosting the Dalvik virtual machine. The Dalvik virtual machine runs Android
applications as instances of the virtual machine. Android contains a rich user interface, application
framework, Java class libraries and multimedia support [15]. Android also comes with built--in
applications containing features such as short message service functionality (messaging), phone
capabilities and an address book (contacts).

6.3.1 Dalvik Virtual Machine and Android Applications

Every Android application runs on its ownDalvik virtual machine and developed applications are not
subordinate to built--in applications. If a built--in application is poor or lacks handy features, the open
source community is most likely to build a better one. One example is the built--in Messaging

Android Application Development ~8~ Benny Skogberg

application, which can be replaced by Handcent SMS(downloaded from Android market, version
3.0.4) since it displays the message received on the Android device directly,without using the
notification bar scroll--down facility.

The downside of this freedom isthat users have to be very careful when uninstalling applications.
They could easily destroy parts of Android, making it unable to reboot.Another downside of
Android is its openness, which makes it more exposed to malware[25].

6.3.2 Android Structure, Java and XML

Android is also the Java class library used to build applicationsfor the Android software
environment. Java on Android makes use of XML for variables such as strings and integers. XML is
also used to control the layout and style of an application[1] [4]. This separate layer convention is
similar to Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) for content and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) for
style. There are differences due to different languages and functionalities as HTML is not a
programming language as Java is. However, from a conceptual level this comparison can be made.
As far as practical aspects are concerned,Java defines the button’s functionality, while XML defines
the buttons’ text, colour, font--weight and size.

6.3.3 Android Versions

Android comes in many forms and shapes. From the first open public release in October 21 2008,
Android used the version 1.1. Since then there have been versions 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.0.1 to the recently
released 2.1. To use Google ApplicationProgramming Interface (API), such as Google Maps,
developer has a similar branch of versions, called Google API from Android version 1.5.

Figure 2: A timeline starting at the first open public release of Google API and Android SDK, the split of the two in
April 2009 until its latest release version 2.1 in January 2010.[30]

From a developer’s point of view, this is important. Considering the fact that thereare six different
versions of Android today and most certainly even more to come in the future, a developer needs to
master the different versions of Android. The challenge in building an applicationthat works well on
all different versions is one of the main issues with Android. One approach is to use the lowest
version possible for your application, making itaccessible to higher versions. The other approach is

Android Application Development ~9~ Benny Skogberg

to target each version of Android, but this approachis costly. Depending on stakeholder needs in
terms of time to market and financial means, choice of Android version is important.

The RunKeeper application, takes the latter approach, and was recently released to the Android
market in version 2.0. However, RunKeeper themselves state that the application will be supported
by earlier versions “in the near future”[27]. The design decision is inany case depending on a solid
and thought business decision, which impacts the whole development process. If not, the developer
is advised to address this to the stakeholders and project management.

To keep track of the currently used versions of Android, one option is to use the Android website
and turn your attention to the resources tab and navigate to Platform versions. There the people
interested can find by which Android version users have downloaded Android applications. It is a
rather blunt tool, showing you the last two weeks of download preceding a certain displayed date in
the Android Market. The pie diagram gives a quick overview bywhich versions Android users
download applications on a global scale. If your target market is not global, consider carrying out a
survey of your own, matching your target audience.

Android Application Development ~ 10 ~ Benny Skogberg

re 3: Ratio of Android Devices used to download Applications using
Android Market March 29 to April 12 2010[14].

Even though the pie chart is a rough tool to use, the developer can get a quick overview of which
versions to target or to leave out. Developing a global application today the highest version to use
would be Android 1.5, since almost 4 of 10 devices downloading applications fromthe market are
using this version. Android version 1.1 is almost obsolete since only one out of a thousand use this
version. Android versions 2.0 and 2.0.1have not got that many downloads either, and can rely on
version 1.6.

The author suggests that a good strategy to develop an application published in the markettoday
would be to first release a version 1.5 followed by versions 1.6 and 2.1, leavingout version 1.1, 2.0
and 2.0.1. If the stakeholder only wants one Android application, version 1.5 would be a good
choice.

6.4 The Development Environment

Android SDK makes use of Java programming language, similar to Java Standard Edition (J2SE),
called Java Android Library. This is an advantage todevelopers familiar with programming
languages originating from the programming language family C. The syntax is the same as Java in
terms of operands, selections, iterations, file handling and more. The more specific Android classes
and packages use other names that are not similar to Java editions, such as the Activity Class and
the View Class [4].

To develop an Android application, developers need to make sure that the development
environment has a Java version 5 or above. Today Java 6 is stableand there is really no reason not
to use it. Download and install a Java version appropriate forthe developing computer OS, since
Java is OS independent, developer could choose developing environment operating system freely
[1].

6.4.1 Android SDK

The Android SDK is mandatory to Android developers. It contains all the packages, application
framework and class libraries the developer needs to develop an Android application. The
developer should download and install the Android SDK and set up the PATH environment variable.
The PATH variable is used bythe developing computer’s OS to locate the Android SDK and is
essential for developing software anywhere in the developing machine’s file system [4].

6.4.2 Eclipse IDE

Even though Eclipse Integrated Development Environment, IDE, is not necessary for Android
developers, the author recommends developers to use it. Today it is the only IDE which supports
Android development, and makes development more straight forward and thus -- quicker. It is
possible, as in most otherprogramming languages, to use a simple text editor for development.
However using a text editor is time consuming and sometimes frustrating for developers when the

Android Application Development ~ 11 ~ Benny Skogberg

lack of a semi colon (;) or a misspelling is not highlighted. Furthermore Eclipse has a handy
Android Development Tool (ADT) plug--in which is a powerful extension to Eclipse. It lets the
developer use all the basic tools any full featured IDE uses[1] [4]. To mention a few, adding
breakpoints and check variables at a specific time withinthe programming code, access Dalvik
Debug Monitor Server (DDMS) and use the project wizard are some of the features.

6.4.3 Android Virtual Device

Every version of Android has a different Android Virtual Device (AVD) which you have to set up
first. The general idea is to develop to the lowest Android version possible, to getthe developed
application as accessible as possible to a wider range of Android users. Not every Android user
updates version frequently and there are somehandset manufacturers that do not support new
versions on previously sold Smartphones. The conclusion for the developer is to make informed
decisions on appropriate Android versions, never using a version too high if not necessary.
Developer should keep in mind an Android application in a lower version is forward compatible to
a higher version [4].

The AVD can be set up usingconsole application or the developers recently installed Eclipse ADT
plug--in. For convenience, developers are advised to set up all possible virtual devicesfrom the very
beginning. This approach makes development effort simpler later on, switching from one version of
virtual machine to another, especially in test purposes. The ADV is an emulator which actually
contains the specific Smartphone OS [1]. This is convenient if the developer does not have a device
of their own. Nonetheless the developer should be careful to release an applicationthat has not
been tested on an actual handset. The more different handsets and versions the developer tests
their application on, verifying functionality and purpose of application, the better. Releasing a fully
functional, well--tested and stable application to the Android market will increase user ratings
getting the developed application a better market placing.The default view of the Android market
application suggestions are presented in descending order by popularity, based on the number of
downloads and user ratings.

6.4.4 Secure Digital Card

Within the literature [1][4] [7] [9] there is not mentioned what size the SD--card should have. The
author tried with 2 Mebibyte (MiB) and failed. After substantial searches, the author later found
out that anything less than 8 MiB would fail. One MiB represents the value of 2 20 bytes which
equals 1’048’576 bytes of digital storage. Therefore the author suggests that the developer to use
the double size 16 MiB to avoid trouble with the AVD in the development mode. This size
corresponds to 16.384 Megabytes (MB).

6.5 “Hello World!” as Test of IDE

Following the steps in the previous section, the developer is set up to start developing her first
Android application. The first applicationin any programming language is the “Hello World”--

Android Application Development ~ 12 ~ Benny Skogberg

application which basically prints out the text “Hello World!” to the user interface, inthis case – the
AVD emulator.

Android uses XML and Java in close conjunction, which might feel confusing at first.The files and
folder structure is very similar to any other Java application, with a few differences.

AndroidManifest.xml is placed in the root folder(Figure 4) and is a description of the application,

its permissions and capabilities [4]. Permissions are used to enlighten the user of the application
and what capabilities the application uses. If the application requires Internet access or GPS, the
user will be notified when installing or updating the application. It is mandatory to specify what
capabilities the application uses and is one of the thingsa developer agrees upon when
downloading the Android SDK [1] [4].

FirstApp.java is located in the java source folder src/apt/tutorial meaning that the package name is
apt.tutorial. When building applications that would be released to the Android market, the naming
convention is com.android.<company name>. The java source file (or files) contains all the
functionality of the application [1].

Figure 4: Folder structure of

the Hello World application
in Android.

The resource folder, res, contains three different folders; drawable, for images and pictures; layout,
for the positioning and size of different elements such as buttons, text fields and the screen view,
and values for element names and colour.

The AndroidManifest.xml (Figure 5) is a simple XML file with an XML schema namespace called
android. It defines the java package, which icon to represent the application (in this casea file

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called icon.png is located in the res/drawable folder) and the application name atline 6. Application
name and icon represents the application in the Android device application list.On line 16 the
minimum SDK version is specified, in this case the SDK version 3, which is equivalent to Android
1.5. When the application is started, wrapped by element intent--filter, “action android: name” (line
10) is where the Android device finds which file defines the application setup, in this case main.xml.

Figure 5: AndroidManifest.xml from the Hello World application [7].

The main.xml file (Figure 6), also specifying android namespace defines a linear layout, the
orientation (line 3) the layout width (line 4) and layout height (line 5). Orientation can be vertical,
horizontal or dependent on which way the Android device itself is oriented horizontal or vertical.
The TextView, lines 7--11, is an element, which is used to fill with text, in this case pointing to the
attribute hello in the element string.

Figure 6: main.xml from the Hello World application [7].

Android uses XPath [3] tolocate the attribute value hello (line 3) of element string in the file
strings.xml (Figure 7). The value of this element is Hello World! On line 4, the attribute value
app_name is specified as First App referenced by AndroidManifest.xml.

Android Application Development ~ 14 ~ Benny Skogberg

Figure 7: strings.xml from the Hello World application [7].

The java--file FirstApp.java (Figure 8) is specified as an ordinary java--file beginning with the
package apt.tutorial (line 1). On line 3 and 4 this application imports the Activity class, and the
Bundle class. The class FirstApp (lines 6--14) inherits the Activity class. Line 8 and 9
onCreate-- method overrides the Activity class onCreate--method, taking the Bundle type
variable savedInstanceState as argument.

The saved instance state is a reference [6] to a place in memorywhere the application ran
previously. To this application it has no real value, but in lager applications itis crucial in terms of
multitasking. Android devices have limited resources, and are unable to run unlimited number of
applications at the same time. To mimic true multitasking, the application saves the instance state
to memory, when sent to background. The OS needs not to kill the application instantly, but if the
user continues to open other applications to a point close tothe resources limits, the OS terminates
the application. If the user returns to a killed application, its instance is still saved in memory; thus,
the OS starts the application again and grabs the saved instance state giving the impression the
application were never killed [13].

Continuing on line 11 the Activity class’s onCreate--method is called with the savedInstanceState
as argument. Last on line 12, the contentview is set with argument R.layout.main. R stands for the
resource folder res; layout is the subfolder and main the XML--file (Figure 6).

Figure 8: FirstApp.java from the Hello World application [7].

When the developer runs the application, the emulator most appropriate for the minSdkVersion
starts as an actual Android device. It takes the same time as starting an actual Android device, so
the developer is advised to keep the emulator running when developing applications for Android,

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minimizing development time. It is possible to uninstall the application from the emulator when
the test is complete.

Be advised that Eclipse will generate twoequal and unfortunate warnings, which from a
developer’s perspective is annoying and unimportant. The warnings say “Warning once: This
application, or a library it uses, is usingNSQuickDrawView that has been deprecated. Apps should
cease use of QuickDraw and move toQuartz”. The developer should not be alarmed by this
deprecated message; it is just a warning that your environment is using a technique which would
not be supported later on. However– running the application on a real Smartphone device does
not generate these errors.

If the setup of development environment is correct, the“Hello World”--application will be up and

running as is shown on the emulator in Figure 9.

Figure 9: Emulator view when the compiled application runs from the Hello World application [7].

6.6 Test Application

The purpose of the test application is to synchronize locally stored information with information
stored on a remote server. Information edited on the Android device will be synchronized with the
server, and synchronized from the server to other Smartphone devices. The registered user shares
data and synchronizes its information in the background with pre--determined intervals, thus
always having accurate and updated information. The user does not need to know when
information was last edited since all information is updated according to the pre--determined time
interval.

This application has the following main features:

1. Connect to an internet--connected server which stores information

2. Sign in to a server using Facebook connect

3. Sign in to a server with username and password

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To connect to the server the Smartphone needsto have access to the Internet through 3G. While
connected to the server, the application should synchronize currentapplication information with
the information on the server where the most recent changes are updated, overwriting the older
data.

To be able to use Facebook connect, a user needs to have a Facebook account. The Android
application needs to facilitate a Facebook Developer application, set up within Facebook. Setting up
the application on Facebook is done using the Facebook Developer guidelines [18]. The Facebook
application is a framework where the developer can embed content from another server. Once
installed, the Facebook application needs not to change since the actual application, framed by
Facebook, is hosted on another server. Connecting to Facebook Connect lets the user sign in with
their Facebook account, sending an authentication token to the host server (the developer
controlled server), and verifying the user to the account on the internet--connected server. Once
signed in, the synchronization process starts. Users not having a Facebook account or users
unwilling to use a Facebook account for signing in, should also be able to sign in tothe server using a
username and a password.

The information container features are extended with more smart functions. It should make use of
user controlled settings, like synchronization interval and notifications. The Android application
will extend using instant, letter by letter, search result view finding contacts immediately. An option
can be using a Location Based Service (LBS) to be able to use ‘friends last seen’ functionality using
Google Maps.

6.7 Developing Strategy

There are different techniques and approachesfor developing an application in general. The author
prefers to take on the requirement valued as the most difficult one first. The reason for doing so is
to get a clear view of whether it is possible at all to meet stakeholder’s requirements. If the
developer succeeds, the developer has a head start and can be certain that the whole project is
possible to develop. If the developer fails, the developer can, at an early stage, address the
stakeholder of the difficulties and not lull the stakeholder into a possible false security. If the author
finds different requirements having the same value of difficulty,the one most valuable to the
stakeholder is chosen.

There are other strategies too,such as a “quick win”. A “quick win” is a function having a high value
to the stakeholder, and one which is easy to develop. In this case one could develop the user
interface first, implementing only a part of the application but having the look and feel of the
application at hand. This has apparently a high value to the stakeholder, is easy to implement, and
gives a feeling for the application’s end result [31]. However, this strategy gives false hopeto the
stakeholder and an unwanted pressure on the developer to finish the application. To use this
strategy, the author suggests only showing the features and functions that are fully developed from
the user interface to the server and from the server to the user interface.

Android Application Development ~ 17 ~ Benny Skogberg

When developing applications, constant communication with the stakeholder is also an essential
part of the strategy, letting her see the processas open and uncovered. The developer gains trust
and needs not to explain to the stakeholder if the developer should fail. The stakeholder should
always be made aware of the development roadmap.

7. Result
7.1 Facebook Connect
Complementing the username/password login task the application needs to make use of the
Facebook connect feature. Today it’s seen on sites withinthe location--based social media sphere,
such as Foursquare [20] and Gowalla [23]. The general idea with Facebook connect on a handheld
device is to have your sign--in process just a click away, to improve usability. It can be a daunting
task typing long usernames and obscure passwords, especially on a small--screen Smartphone
with a touch control keyboard.

7.1.1 Facebook Application

On Facebook, the developer needs to set up a Facebook applicationwhich starts with adding the
application Facebook Developer to the developers account. With Facebook Developer attached to
the developer’s account the developer can develop numerous of Facebook Applications. The author
created his own application [19] within Facebook using a guide [17]. The Facebook application
linked to the author’s own host [28]. This application just displays two images side by side, and has
no useful value of its own. But if the developer wants to add more content or features, Facebook
allows it. Used as a Facebook application, the user not signed in to Facebook isunable to see the
application. Also, the user has to give the application permission to pull data from the users
account.

At this development stage you have your Facebook Application in place as a frame to your own host
web page. Three different Facebook users also tested this setup, to verify the application worked as
planned.

The third step is to access the Facebook Application using the Android Smartphone, to complete the
Facebook connect function. Facebook Connect for Android is hosted by Google Code[21] and is a port
of the Facebook Connect for iPhone. A port is a way of changinga software to make it usable for other
software environments. In this case it only uses the variables API key and API secret to connect you
to the correct Facebookapplication. The variable GetSessionCookie is also defined by Facebook
Connect for Android, but not used in thisapplication. If you were to use the actual Facebook
Application to more people than just sign in users, the variable GetSessionCookie is required to keep
the Smartphone connected to the Facebook Application.

Android Application Development ~ 18 ~ Benny Skogberg

7.1.2 Facebook Connect for Android
To get the Facebook Connect for Android to work properly, developers need to disable any IDE
presets, such as JUnit test, because this interferes with the Eclipse Android project when compiling
the application. Equally important is the fact that the developers need to make sure they use Java
version 6 when developing a Facebook Connect application. Mac OS X(10.5) has Java version 5 as
standard, which requires that the developers need to manually update to Java version 6.

When compiling the Android project, theemulator starts and theapplication is installed on the
emulator. Unlocking the emulator, the application starts, looking like an actual Android handheld
device. On start up a Facebook Connect button is visible and when activated you get the usual sign--
in form asking for username and password, since this emulator has not been connected to Facebook
before. Signing in with user credentials, the user is now actually connected to the Facebook
application and has the option to post a message on the user’s Facebook Wall using the developed
Android application.

A conceptual view of the Facebook Connect for Android is ni three layers. At the top layer, the user
handles her Smartphone which connects to the Facebook, the middle layer. The Facebook
Application uses your user credentials and connects to the host, the bottom layer.The application
images are not present, since the Facebook Connect does not support the Android WebView library.

The developer, as always, needs to use the correct Android version, andthe correct AVD emulator
version. In January 10, 2010 Facebook Connect for Android was updated from version 1.5 to 1.6.

7.2 Networking
When the Facebook Connect is working properly, the next step is to connect to the server. In a
general way, this is the same as connecting to any other server using the Hyper Text Transfer
Protocol (HTTP). Having your user credentials through Facebook Connect the application just
needs to connect to the server.

Since we are accessing data that is supposed to be concealed to the public and only accessible to
authorized users, we need to secure our network connection using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
Using SSL minimizes the risk of any unauthorized use of the private data.

It is possible to build the application in a simple sequential way; however this technique makes the
application slow. When connecting to a resource on theInternet, the probability of failure increases.
First, you have the Android device connected to a 3G--network, which might not have the best
signal strength at all times. Secondly the Internet resources could be occupied with numerous
requests from other sources or all together unavailable. A recommended approach for the
developer is to make use of threads when connecting to sources on theInternet [4]. Threading in
programming is used to make an application do several different things simultaneously, such as
handling user interface requests and at the same time download data from the Internet.

From a conceptual view, an application can work with multiple threads at the same time, keeping
the User Interface idle and functional to the user. It is also recommended to give the user the

Android Application Development ~ 19 ~ Benny Skogberg

option to cancel current operation,when the user chooses to do so for whatever reason. The
downside, from a developer’s perspective, is that it is impossible to force a thread to start.When
calling a thread’s start--method, the developer makes the thread eligible to run.The thread
scheduler determines when the Central Processing Unit (CPU), has enough capacity to handle the
thread just started [6].

When running threads, it is a good idea to have an event listener attached to the Internet connected
thread, since we want the user to be able to cancel the operation. This technique is also used in the
opposite direction. We want to tell the user when we have pulled all the required data from the
server, thus we make use of callbacks [8].

The author has experienced a lot of Android applications, downloaded from the Android market,
used on an Android device which has beenforced to quit by the Android OS. The main reason for this
is not known (since source code of applications is concealed), but one technique to minimize this
kind of behaviour is to make use of exception handling where this is appropriate. Validating user
input is not appropriate for exception handling, but using exceptions connecting to a resource to the
Internet is. The developer should make reasonable judgment on exceptions, since it slows down the
application. The general advice is to use exceptions only where the application is likely to crash for
reasons that are out of control and cannot be hindered by simpler programming constructs.
Therefore, we implement exception handling using try--catch statements on connections to the
Internet.

7.3 Data Synchronization

Having an authorized user through Facebook Connect and downloaded data from the server, we
need to recognise which data is most accurate. All locally stored data is contained in a collection of
objects. The same goes for the downloaded data from theInternet.

The next step is to compare theobjects from the local list of objects to the downloaded list of
objects. Each object has a unique identity and a timestamp, which determines whichobject was
edited last. Comparing time--stamps of the same identity determines which object has precedence
over the other. If the object on the server is newer, the local object is replaced by the one from the
server.

Iterating through the list in the above--described fashion, keeps the data accurate and
synchronized with the data on the server. Since there is only one user who updates her data, there
is no need to check if another user made any change.

Since server storage is set up ina way that only allows downloading all objects, improvements can
be made. A suggestion is to allow the Androidapplication to compare each object’s identity and
timestamp before downloading the entire object. This would not only increase usability in terms of
a faster application, but also decreases network load.

Android Application Development ~ 20 ~ Benny Skogberg

 8. Discussion
Android Software Environment was first released as an open source project in October 2008. The
reason for making the source code available to the open community isnot revealed even though the
goal is stated on Open Handset Alliance website[26]: “Android was built from the ground up with
the explicit goal to be the first open, complete, and free platform created specifically for mobile
devices”. Yamakami [10] takes the approach towards the cost of keeping and maintaining
proprietary mobile operating systems. The author extends Yamakami ideas to include an even
closer and tight connection with the users of Android. There are many potential developers,
hobbyists and professionals, who use Android in their daily lives. Instead of waiting for the next
release of preferred handset manufacturers’ improvements, the developer can herself add features
to existing applications or write new ones, ifthe developer feels something is missing. “Time to
market” is just a handmade application away.

The openness of Android makes it more exposed to various malicious codes, than controlled
proprietary mobile operating systems. If a substantial number of Android devices are infected by
virus or other malicious code, it could jeopardize the whole Open Handset Alliance’s effort to stay
open. There are reports of bank fraudfrom applications downloaded from the Android Market,
which is not as guarded as Apples AppStore. With the growing popularity of Android, criminals is
more likely to pay more attention to Android applications and Android Marked [29].

Due to the rapid pace of new releases of Android versions, developers need to pay attention to the
development of versions as well as the current downloads made. Existing applications need to be
updated to newer versions, as users might not feel comfortable with older features on newer
Android devices. As in other software environments, it is most likelythat Android will also mature
as a programming language, making it more interesting for the corporate world and not just the
consumer market. A sales person might want to have an application connecting to thecompany’s
Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) having access to all to marketing valuable data
within hands reach. A Supply Chain Manager might want to check a warehouse inventory levels or
the one time delivery report. Possibilities are endless with Smartphone’s.

From a developer’s perspective, the use of common programming techniques is recommended. The
use of Java in combination with XML makes programming for Androidfairly simple for the
intermediate developer. The advantage is the possibility to use skills and techniques learned from
other programming languages. The disadvantage with Android from the developer’s perspective is
the rapid pace of new versions, whichputs a strain on the developer to continuously follow the
evolution of Android. Android is still in its early stages, and when it matures no one can tell.

9. Conclusion
This thesis has shown what Android is and how it works with XML in combination with Java. It has
described how to setup a development environment and the emulator (AVD). It has showed what

Android Application Development ~ 21 ~ Benny Skogberg

textbooks [1] [4] [7] [9] did not focus on, such as how the binding between XML and Java work on
Android.

Issues of versioning of Android and its rapid evolvement in terms of new SDK’s have been discussed
as well as how developers should address these issues. The thesis has also discussed the advantages
and disadvantages with Android software environment, and has shown several tips for the
intermediate developer.

The author’s understanding is that Android and its SDK is a feature of the future.In part due to the
fact that it will be fun for must phone users to be able to add, develop and equip their phones with
new features and personal preferences, it will open a new era in sharing open source software
components, such free utilities and games, for mobile devices. Furthermore, Androidhas recently
arrived, and the author is convinced that the development environment and tools will be improved
and enhanced in the future, making the development process effective.

Android Application Development ~ 22 ~ Benny Skogberg

 10. References
[1] Ableson F. and Sen R., Unlocking Android, 2009. Manning Publications Co., ISBN 978--
1-- 933988--67--2
[2] Aguö ero J., Rebollo M., Carascosa C. and Juliaé n V., Towards on embedded agent model for
Android mobiles, 2008. International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems, Article
no 37, ISBN 978--963--9799--27--1
[3] Carey P., New Perspectives on XML, 2007 2nd edition. Thomson Course Technology, ISBN
978--1--4188--6064--6
[4] Conder S. and Darcey L., Android Wireless Application Development, 2009. Addison--
Wesley, ISBN 978--0--321--62709--4
[5] Hall S. P. and Anderson E., Operating Systems forMobile Computing, December 2009.
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, ISSN:1937--4771
[6] Heller P. and Roberts S., Complete Java 2 Certification, 2005 5th edition. Sybex, ISBN 0--
7821--4419--5
[7] Murphy M. L., Android Programming Tutorials, 2009. CommonsWare,ISBN 978--0--
9816780-- 2--3
[8] Sierra K. and Bates B., Head First Java, 2005 2nd edition. O’Reilly, ISBN 978--0--596--00920--5
[9] Silva V., Pro Android Games, 2009. Apress, ISBN 978--1--4302--2647--5
[10] Yamakami T., Foundation--based Mobile Platform Software Engineering: Implications to
Converge to Open Source Software, 2009. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series;
Vol. 403. ISBN:978--1--60558--710--3

10.1 Internet References

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[21] Google, Facebook Connect for Android, http://code.google.com/p/fbconnect--
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10.2 Lecture References

[31] Hagert, G., Lecture in Information Design: Quality, March 4, 2008

Android Application Development ~ 24 ~ Benny Skogberg