Lecture3
- 1. Daniel Switkin Senior Software Engineer, Google Inc. Android Application Development
- 2. Goal • Get you an idea of how to start developing Android applications • Introduce major Android application concepts • Walk you through a sample application in the development environment
- 3. Agenda • System architecture • Hello World! • Application components • Practical matters • Toolchain
- 4. What is Android? • A free, open source mobile platform • A Linux-based, multiprocess, multithreaded OS • Android is not a device or a product • It’s not even limited to phones - you could build a DVR, a handheld GPS, an MP3 player, etc.
- 5. Android Runtime DalvikVirtual Machine Core Libraries Application Framework View System Content Providers Resource Manager GTalk ServiceLocation Manager Activity Manager Package Manager Window Manager Telephony Manager Notification Manager Linux Kernel Display Driver Camera Driver Bluetooth Driver Flash Memory Driver Binder (IPC) Driver Power ManagementUSB Driver Keypad Driver WiFi Driver Audio Drivers Libraries FreeType SGL SSL SQLite WebKit libc Surface Manager OpenGL | ES Media Framework Applications Home PhoneContacts Browser ...
- 6. Hello World!
- 7. The History of GUIs • Hardcoded to the screen • Hardcoded to the window • Hardcoded within a view hierarchy • Dynamic layout within a view hierarchy
- 8. Generating GUIs • Two ways to create GUIs: in XML or in code • Declarative route via XML has advantages • A lot of your GUI-related work will take place in: •res/layout •res/values •@id/name_for_component gives you handle for referencing XML declarations in code
- 9. Views • Views are building blocks • Examples: • Can be as basic as:TextView, EditText, or ListView • Fancier views: ImageView, MapView,WebView
- 10. Layouts • Controls howViews are laid out • FrameLayout : each child a layer • LinearLayout : single row or column • RelativeLayout : relative to otherViews • TableLayout : rows and columns • AbsoluteLayout : <x,y> coordinates
- 12. Layouts are customizable res/layout/share.xml res/layout-land/share.xml
- 13. Layout Parameters • Specify many aspects of what’s being rendered • Examples: • android:layout_height • android:layout_width • Tip: start with documentation for a specificView or Layout and then look at what’s inherited from parent class
- 15. Basic components Activities UI component typically corresponding to one screen. BroadcastReceivers Respond to broadcast Intents. Services Faceless tasks that run in the background. ContentProviders Enable applications to share data.
- 16. Activities • Typically correspond to one screen in a UI • But, they can: • be faceless • be in a floating window • return a value
- 17. Intents • Think of Intents as a verb and object; a description of what you want done • Examples: VIEW, CALL, PLAY, etc. • System matches Intent with Activity that can best provide that service • Activities and BroadcastReceivers describe what Intents they can service in their IntentFilters (via AndroidManifest.xml)
- 18. Intents GMail Contacts Chat Home Picasa Blogger “Pick photo” Client component makes a request for a specific action System picks best component for that action Components can be replaced any time New components can use existing functionality Photo Gallery
- 19. BroadcastReceivers • Components designed to respond to broadcast Intents • Think of them as a way to respond to external notifications or alarms • Applications can invent and broadcast their own Intents as well
- 20. Services • Faceless components that run in the background • Example: music player, network downlaod, etc. • Bind your code to a running service via a remote-able interface defined in an IDL • Can run in your own process or separate process
- 21. ContentProviders • Enables sharing of data across applications • Examples: address book, photo gallery, etc. • Provides uniform APIs for: • querying (returns a Cursor) • delete, update, and insert rows • Content is represented by URI and MIME type
- 23. Storage and Persistence • A couple of different options: • Preferences • Flat file • SQLite • ContentProvider
- 24. Packaging • Think of .apk files as Android packages • Everything needed for an application is bundled up therein • Basically a glorified ZIP file
- 25. Resources • res/layout: declarative layout files • res/drawable: intended for drawing • res/anim: bitmaps, animations for transitions • res/values: externalized values for things like strings, colors, styles, etc. • res/xml: general XML files used at runtime • res/raw: binary files (e.g. sound)
- 26. Assets • Similar to Resources • Differences: • Read-only • InputStream access to assets • Any kind of file • Be mindful of file sizes
- 27. Application Lifecycle • Application lifecycle is managed by the system • Application start/stop is transparent to the user • End-user only sees that they are moving between screens • Read documentation for android.app.Activity
- 28. Toolchain
- 29. Emulator • QEMU-based ARM emulator runs same system image as a device • Use same toolchain to work with devices or emulator
- 31. Debugging Call stack Breakpoints, single stepping Examine variables
- 32. Eclipse demo
- 33. Q & A