Overview of Android Platform
Before getting into developing android applications it is better to take a few minutes to know what you are getting into and in this case you should know more about android architecture, platform it operates on, database that android uses, graphics used by android, android browser and some fundamentals about android applications.
Android Platform
- Android system runs on top of Linux 2.6.
- Android system uses a virtual machine called Dalvik which is particularly optimized for mobile devices.
- Android has an integrated browser based on webkit engine.
- Android uses optimized graphics with OpenGL ES for high performance 2D and 3D graphics.
- Android uses SQLite database for structure data storage.
Android Application Fundamental
There are some basic fundamental things which you should know about android applications.
- Android apps are written in Java Programming Language.
- Android applications are compiled into Android Package File or .apk file and this file is uploaded to android market in order to distribute an application. This .apk file is the one that users install and run on their devices.
- Each application runs in its own sandbox and Linux process, protected from other applications.
- Applications consist of components, a manifest file (AndroidManifest.xml) and resources. Here resources can be anything like images or media etc.
