The document provides an overview of the history and architecture of the Android operating system. It describes how the Open Handset Alliance was formed in 2007 to develop an open source platform as an alternative to proprietary platforms. It outlines the core components of Android including the application framework, libraries, Dalvik virtual machine, and Linux kernel. It also discusses the Android development tools and Eclipse IDE plugin for building Android applications.

1. Getting Started With Android

2. History of Android
 In 2007, a group of manufacturers, wireless
carriers & software developers formed the “Open
Handset Alliance”
 Some of these include
 Broadcom Corporation
 HTC
 Intel
 LG
 Motorola
 Samsung
 T-Mobile
 Google

3. History of Android
 The goal was to develop the next generation of
wireless platform
 The new platform would be nonproprietary & based
on open standards
 This would lead to lower development costs &
increases profits
 RIM Blackberry & Apple iOS were proprietary
platforms, so the mobile development community
eagerly waited for this new potential platform
 In 2008, the OHA announces the Android platform
and launched a beta program for developers.

4. History of Android
 Several pre-release versions of the Android SDK
were released
 The first Android handset (T-Mobile G1) began
shipping in late 2008

5. History of Android
 Almost all major manufacturers have Android
based handsets
 The following companies do not have Android
Phones
 Apple
 RIM
 Nokia

6. Easy Development
 Android breaks the proprietary concept of mobile
development
 Unlike with other mobile platforms, there are
virtually no costs to developing Android
Applications
 The Android SDK and tools are freely available
on the Android developer website
 http://developer.android.com
 The freely available Eclipse is the most popular
IDE for Android Development
 So basically the setup itself is very cheap

7. Easy Development
 The best part is the development language
 Android applications are written in Java
Language
 Java being the popular language among the
developer community
 The learning curve for developers is quite less
since they already know Java
 The main thing that they have to understand is
the SDK and Tools for development

8. Some pre-requisites for Android
 Java Language
 XML
 Eclipse IDE
 SDK

9. What is Android?
 Android is a software stack for mobile devices
that includes
 an operating system
 Middleware
 key applications
 The Android SDK provides the tools and APIs
necessary to begin developing applications.

10. Features of Android
 Application framework enabling reuse and
replacement of components
 Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile
devices
 Integrated browser based on the open source
WebKit engine
 Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D
graphics library; 3D graphics based on the
OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware
acceleration optional)
 SQLite for structured data storage

11. Features of Android
 Media support for common audio, video, and still
image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR,
JPG, PNG, GIF)
 GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)
 Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware
dependent)
 Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer
(hardware dependent)
 Rich development environment including a
device emulator, tools for debugging, memory
and performance profiling, and a plugin for the
Eclipse IDE

12. Android Architecture

13. Applications
 Android provides a set of core applications
including an
 email client,
 SMS program,
 calendar,
 maps,
 browser,
 contacts, and others.
 All applications are written using the Java
programming language.

14. Application Framework
 Android offers developers the ability to build
extremely rich and innovative applications.
 Developers are free to take advantage of the
 device hardware,
 access location information,
 run background services,
 set alarms,
 add notifications to the status bar & much more
 Developers have full access to the same
framework APIs used by the core applications

15. Application Framework
 The application architecture is designed to
simplify the reuse of components
 Any application can publish its capabilities and
any other application may then make use of those
capabilities
 This same mechanism allows components to be
replaced by the user

16. Application Framework
 Underlying all applications is a set of services and
systems, including:
 A rich and extensible set of Views that can be used
to build an application, including lists, grids, text
boxes, buttons, and even an embeddable web
browser
 Content Providers that enable applications to
access data from other applications (such as
Contacts), or to share their own data
 A Resource Manager, providing access to non-
code resources such as localized strings, graphics,
and layout files
 A Notification Manager that enables all
applications to display custom alerts in the status
bar

17. Libraries
 Android includes a set of libraries used by various
components of the Android system.
 These capabilities are exposed to developers
through the Android application framework. Some of
the core libraries are listed below:
 Media Libraries - the libraries support playback and
recording of many popular audio and video formats, as
well as static image files, including
MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, and PNG
 LibWebCore - a modern web browser engine which
powers both the Android browser and an embeddable
web view
 3D libraries - an implementation based on OpenGL ES
1.0 APIs;
 FreeType - bitmap and vector font rendering

18. Android Runtime
 Every Android application runs in its own process,
with its own instance of the Dalvik virtual machine
(DVM)
 Dalvik has been written so that a device can run
multiple VMs efficiently.
 The Dalvik VM executes files which are optimized
for minimal memory footprint.
 The Dalvik VM relies on the Linux kernel for
underlying functionality such as threading and
low-level memory management.

19. Linux Kernel
 Android relies on Linux version 2.6 for core
system services such as
 security,
 memory management,
 process management,
 network stack, and
 driver model.
 The kernel also acts as an abstraction layer
between the hardware and the rest of the
software stack

20. Android Development Tools
Plugin
 ADT Plugin is available for Eclipse
 It provides the following:-
 Android project wizard
 Android specific resource editors
 Android SDK & AVD (Android Virtual Device) Manager
 DDMS (Dalvik Debug Monitor Service) perspective for
debugging/monitoring apps
 Integration with Android LogCat Logging
 Automated builds & application deployment to Android
emulators and handsets
 Application packaging and code signing tools for
release deployment

21. Eclipse ?
 Is Eclipse Necessary for development?
 NO
 Developers can develop Android apps without
using the Eclipse IDE
 However by doing so, they are missing the ease
of development that Eclipse provides

22. Remember…
 When developing any mobile application, always
remember:
 Screen Size is small
 Processing power is less
 Resources should be managed properly