Introduction

Android is an open source software pack for mobile phones and other devices. Google and OHA (Open Handset Alliance) worked together on Android development but now Google is responsible for its maintenance and further development. It is built on open Linux Kernel. Due to its open source code it continue to evolve with the time as a large community of developers are working together to build innovative applications for mobile.

Android applications can be developed using java for which its SDK is available on android website. It also have support for both 2D and 3D graphics, database powered by SQLite and an integrated web browser. Because of the architecture of the android, third party applications are executed with the same priority as those applications which are in core system, this is very exiting feature for programmers who want a greater execution priority to their applications. The other exiting feature for programmers is that they can access to anything the operating system has access to. For example, in order to develop an application to make a call, you can access the phone’s dialer; also you can access the internal GPS of the phone. Programmers can tie their application with existing Google applications such as Google maps and search etc. So the potential for the developers to create applications is wide open.

 

Android Software Development Kit

Along with its complete set of software for mobile devices it also introduce its Software development kit (SDK) for the developers, which includes a comprehensive set of development tools, developers can create compelling mobile applications which can take advantage of all the offers that the mobile phone have. For example user can access the core functionality of phone such as making call, SMS, using camera etc. The official supported IDE of android platform is eclipse. The SDK is available to download from android developer website and it is completely free. It supports following development platforms: Linux, Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later, Windows XP and later.

SDK can be downloaded as a zip file from the official website of android and it consists of documentation, programming APIs, tools and sample projects etc. The documentation of android is located in the doc folder of the SDK. It has a complete instruction to get start with i.e. downloading and installing SDK and some quick steps to develop an application. The sample folder of the SDK has six samples which are really helpful to understand the android applications.

Android Tools

Here we discuss some important tools provided by android SDK

Emulator

This tool will run the android application on your PC and you don’t need to test each update on your Cell phone.

Android Debug Bridge

This tool will allow us to issue commands to the emulator tool. Using this tool we can start and stop the server, install and uninstall applications and also we can move files to and from the emulator.

Compiler

Android applications are compiled into dalvik executable files called .DEX files. .DEX is a compiled android application code file. This file is zipped into a single apk file on the device. (Android, Glossary)

Features

 

Open Source

It is an open source operating system and that opens doors for small business and developers to customize it and develop innovative applications. This is why android has a large community of developers working on it, which result into more innovative ideas, applications and low cost applications. And customers have a wide range of applications from where they can choose any of them according to their requirements.

 

Multitasking

Android is able to run multiple applications at the same time regardless of whether they are system applications or developed by some external developers. Users here at android can listen music, read GPS data, receive notification without keeping them all open. But on the other hand OS like iPhone has limited multitasking and it only allows its native application to run in background. (Escallier, 2010)

 

Better Application Market

Android has a better application market as compare to other operating systems and it is growing very fast. Within just couple of years it has crossed 50,000 which is a rapid development. (Escallier, 2010)

 

Better Notifications

It has a convenient notification with different icons for the notifications you want. The notification bar can be pulled down to show the details of the notification. Also you can view the notification from the lock screen and this facility is available for the developer’s applications as well. (Escallier, 2010)

 

 

Application Freedom

Applications are allowed to do anything they want just like an application installed on a computer. For the security purpose applications ask the user for the permission at the time of installation for the tasks they will be performing unlike the other mobile operating systems which are very restricted.

 

Hardware freedom

Android lets you choose your hardware as it is based on java so it is hardware independent. While the other operating systems need their dedicated hardware.

 

Free Application

Android gives you more free application than any other mobile operating systems. As it is an open source operating system so there are many developers are developing applications for android platform that breaks the monopoly of the large companies that sell their applications on their fixed prices.

 

Programming with Android

Android development can be done over many platforms such as Mac OS, Linux and windows. A rich SDK is provided by android for the application programmers and an excellent documentation is also available. Mostly we use JAVA as a programming language for application development but it does not run the Java byte code. It converts JAVA byte codes in to DEX (Dalvik Executable Code) file which is zipped into an APK file.

In android application, user interface is defined in an xml file called layout. And we access this layout in a class extended from activity class.

 

Future of Android

The lack of openness in the mobile devices has stifled the innovation to date but with the introduction of open source operating system like android, it enables the developers all around the world to take part in its development and make rapid innovation.

Applications can be developed using Java so the developers do not need to learn any new language or technology to develop applications for android. They just need and SDK from android to deal with the android platform. This SDK comes with necessary tools such as emulator and compiler etc.

Technology innovations are decreasing the gap between computers, phones and notebooks. The mobile companies do not have to spent lots of money on the operating system for the OS of their device but due to the openness of android they just customize it and install it on their system.