Introduction to Android

Said Muhammad
GSSC Peshawar
 Learning Android
 Android has a culture. That culture speaks Java, but knowing
Java is not enough. Getting your head around Android
requires learning many new ideas and techniques. It helps to
have a guide through unfamiliar territory.
 Introduction to Android
 Android is a complete set of software for mobile devices
such as tablet computers, notebooks, smartphones,
electronic book readers, set-top boxes etc.
 It contains a linux-based Operating
System, middleware and key mobile applications.
 It can be thought of as a mobile operating system. But it is
not limited to mobile only. It is currently used in various
devices such as mobiles, tablets, televisions etc.
 What is Android
 Android is a software package and linux based operating
system for mobile devices such as tablet computers and
smartphones.
 It is developed by Google and later the OHA (Open Handset
Alliance). Java language is mainly used to write the android
code even though other languages can be used.
 The goal of android project is to create a successful real-
world product that improves the mobile experience for end
users.
 There are many code names of android such as Lollipop,
Kitkat, Jelly Bean, Ice cream Sandwich, Froyo, Ecliar, Donut.
What is Open Handset Alliance (OHA)
It's a consortium of 84 companies such as google, samsung, AKM,
synaptics, KDDI, Garmin, Teleca, Ebay, Intel etc.
It was established on 5th November, 2007, led by Google. It is
committed to advance open standards, provide services and deploy
handsets using the Android Plateform.
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 Androidhas been available as open source since
October 2008.
 Google opened the entire source code under an Apache License
version 2.
 Anyone who wants to use Android can do so by downloading the
full Android source code
 Advantage of Android
 Unified programming approach
 Developers need only develop for Android, and their applications
should be able to run on numerous different devices (.i.e.
Smartphones, TV, Tablets etc.), as long as the devices are
powered using Android.
 Continue…
 The Android platform
It includes an operating system, a middleware and some
 applications
 Lightweight and full featured
 Developers can extend and replace existing components
 A generous development environment
 A SDK is available to build, compile, test and debug user
applications.
 Applications are developed using Java programming language
 No difference between the built-in applications and the
 user ones.
 History of Android
 The history and versions of android are interesting to know. The
code names of android ranges from A to J currently, such
as Aestro, Blender, Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbrea
d, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwitch, Jelly
Bean, KitKat and Lollipop. Let's understand the android history
in a sequence.
 1) Initially, Andy Rubin founded Android Incorporation in Palo
Alto, California, United States in October, 2003.
 2) In 17th August 2005, Google acquired android Incorporation.
Since then, it is in the subsidiary of Google Incorporation.
 3) The key employees of Android Incorporation are Andy
Rubin, Rich Miner, Chris White and Nick Sears.
 4) Originally intended for camera but shifted to smart phones later
because of low market for camera only.
 5) Android is the nick name of Andy Rubin.
 6) In 2007, Google announces the development of android OS.
 7) In 2008, HTC launched the first android mobile.
Why Android?
 Features of Android
The important features of android are given below:
 1) It is open-source.
 2) Anyone can customize the Android Platform.
 3) There are a lot of mobile applications that can be chosen by
the consumer.
 4) It provides many interesting features like weather details,
opening screen, live RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds etc.
 It provides support for messaging services(SMS and MMS), web
browser, storage (SQLite), connectivity (GSM, CDMA, Blue Tooth,
Wi-Fi etc.), media, handset layout etc.
Android Versions, Codename and API
Version Code name API Level
1.5 Cupcake 3
1.6 Donut 4
2.1 Eclair 7
2.2 Froyo 8
2.3 Gingerbread 9 and 10
3.1 and 3.3 Honeycomb 12 and 13
4.0 Ice Cream 15
Sandwitch
4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 Jelly Bean 16, 17 and 18
4.4 KitKat 19
5.0 Lollipop 21
6.0 Marshmallow 23
7.0 Nougat 24-25
8.0 Oreo 26-27
Android Versions
Android applications are compiled to Dalvik bytecode

Write app in
Java
Compiled in
Java

Transformed to Dalvik
bytecode

Loaded into
Dalvik VM
Linux
OS
Categories of Android applications
There are many android applications in the market. The top
categories are:
 Entertainment
 Communication
 Productivity
 Personalization
 Music and Audio
 Social
 Media and Video
 Travel and Local etc.
Android Devices in the Market
 Android devices come in all shapes and sizes. As of late
November 2011, the Android OS powers the following
types of devices:
 Smartphones
 Tablets
 E-reader devices
 Netbooks
 MP4 players
 Internet TVs
Current Usage
 Android Market
 Main factors determining the success of a smartphone platform is the
applications that support it
◦Applications play a very vital role in determining whether a new
platform swims or sinks
 Making these applications accessible to the general user is
extremely important.
 In August 2008, Google announced Android Market, an online
application store for Android devices, and made it available to
users in October 2008
 Using the Google Play application that is preinstalled on their Android
device, users can simply download third-party applications directly onto
their devices
 Both paid and free applications are supported on the Android
Google Play store.
App Stores Comparison March
2017
Categories of Android Applications
The Android Developer Community
 With Android , there is a large developer community all over the world. It is now
much easier to get solutions to problems, and find like-minded developers to share
app ideas and exchange experiences. Here are some developer communities/sites
that you can turn to for help if you run into problems while working with Android:
 Stack Overflow (www.stackoverflow.com)
 Stack Overflow is a collaboratively edited question and answer site for developers. If you
have a question about Android, chances are someone at Stack Overflow is probably
already discussing the same question and someone else had already provided the answer.
 Best of all, other developers can vote for the best answer so that you can know which are
the answers that are trustworthy.
 Google Android Training (http://developer.android.com/training/index .html)
 Google has launched the Android Training site that contains a number of useful classes
grouped by topics. At the time of writing, the classes mostly contain useful code snippets
that are very useful to Android developers once they have started with the basics.
 Android Discuss (http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss)
 Android Discuss is a discussion group hosted by Google using the Google Groups service.
Here, you will be able to discuss the various aspects of Android programming. This group
is monitored closely by the Android team at Google, and so this is good place to clarify
your doubts and learn new tips and tricks.