Google released Android which is an open-source mobile phone
operating system with Linux-based platform. It consists of the
operating system, middleware, and user interface and application
software. An Android app is a software application running on the
Android platform. Because the Android platform is built for mobile
devices, a typical Android app is designed for a smartphone or a tablet
PC running on the Android OS.
Although an Android app can be made available by developers through their websites, most Android apps are uploaded and published on the Android Market, an online store dedicated to these applications. The Android Market features both free and priced apps.
The Application class in Android is the base class within an Android app that contains all other components such as activities and services. The Application class, or any subclass of the Application class, is instantiated before any other class when the process for your application/package is created.
Although an Android app can be made available by developers through their websites, most Android apps are uploaded and published on the Android Market, an online store dedicated to these applications. The Android Market features both free and priced apps.
The Application class in Android is the base class within an Android app that contains all other components such as activities and services. The Application class, or any subclass of the Application class, is instantiated before any other class when the process for your application/package is created.
Android Application Development
The official language for Android Application development is Java. Large parts of Android are written in Java and its APIs are designed to be called primarily from Java. It is possible to develop C and C++ app using the Android Native Development Kit (NDK), however it isn’t something that Google promotes. According to Google, “the NDK will not benefit most apps. As a developer, you need to balance its benefits against its drawbacks. Notably, using native code on Android generally does not result in a noticable performance improvement, but it always increases your app complexity.”Java is simply the supported language of choice for Android Application development. Google chose to create and SDK for Java language and a Plug-in for the popular Eclipse Java IDE, so there was a easily available tool set to create Android apps in a popular language.
The confusing part here is that Java the language and Java the virtual machine are two different things. When a standard Java program runs on your PC, it’s running code that was compiled into byte code meant to run in Sun Microsystems Java Virtual Machine.
Basically Android has its own virtual machine that runs byte code as well. When you run an Android app, its running code that was compiled into the byte code that the Android virtual machine understands. So, while Java is the language of choice, you could technically write android apps in any language provided you had the means to compile it into Android byte code. (Although I don’t think any tools are available for other languages)
Tags:
Android Technology