Android Application Development and Its History
What is Android?
Android is a powerful open source Linux based Operating System (OS) used especially for smart phones and tablets. It’s one of the most widely used mobile operating system (OS). It is a software stack which includes OS, middle ware and key applications. The android Software Development Kit (SDK) provides the tools and Application Programming Interface (API).
The main platform of Android is Java It uses java library. And the applications are coded in Java, C++ and C (core). An only application which as more than 700,000 apps and downloaded more in the market. These applications are updated and many more are released daily.
History of Android:
Android was developed by Open Handset Alliance led by Google. The Open Handset Alliance includes nearly 86 hardware, software and telecommunication companies. The initial developer of android was Android Inc., and later Google purchased it in the year 2005. The android code was released open source by Google under Apache license.
It was founded by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears and Chris White in Paulo Alto, California, US in October 2003.
The Android Open Source Project is also led by Google and tasked for the maintenance and development of android. The main goal of is to create a successful real-world product and improves mobile experience for end users.
Components of Android Architecture:
The major components of Android architecture are:
o Applications – a set of core applications which is written in Java programming language.
o Application Framework – An open source development which manages all the applications involved in it.
o Libraries – It is a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components by android system.
o Android Run-time – All applications can run on its own process, using its own instance of Dalvik Virtual Machine.
o Linux Kernel – It relies on Linux version 2.6 for core system management such as security, process management, memory management and network stack and driver model.
Features of Android:
o Application Framework – enables reuse and replacement of components.
o Dalvik Virtual Machine – optimized for mobile devices.
o Integrated Browser – open source web kit engine.
o Optimized Graphics – powered by 2D and 3D graphics.
o Sq Lite for data storage
o GSM technology
o Camera, GPS, Compass, etc.
o Media support
o Bluetooth, EDGE, Wi-Fi, 3G.
History of Android Versions:
The specialty of android application is, its version. And they are created in alphabetic order. And all versions belong to a Dessert name. Each version has its own sub-version and is released periodically. The sub-versions are released more or else in the same year in a constant period of different months.
The first release was on November 2007 and after that many updates has been made from its original OS and each updates fix bugs and adds new features from the before version.
Versions in Android:
Versions of android and they released year are:
1. Beta – 5 Nov 2007.
2. v1.0 – 23 Sept 2008.
3. v1.1 – 9 Feb 2009.
4. V1.5 cupcake – 30 Apr 2009.
5. V1.6 Donuts – 15 Sept 2009.
6. V2.0 Eclair – 26 Oct 2009.
7. V2.2.x Fro-yo – 20 May 2010.
8. V2.3.x Gingerbread – 6 Dec 2010.
9. V3.x Honeycomb – 22 Feb 2011.
10. V4.x Ice Cream Sandwich – 19 Oct 2011.
Advantages of Android:
1. Multi-touch.
2. Multiprocessor.
3. Multithreaded OS.
4. Rich Internet access.
5. Open source platform.
6. Easy to handle and implement.
7. User friendly.
8. Enabled security.
9. Supports all formats of image & video.
