Android Software Development Kit (SDK)

Android Software Development Kit (SDK):

The Android Software Development Kit provides the tools you’ll need to build Android apps. It’s available at no charge through the Android Developers site. See the Before You Begin section after the Preface for complete details on downloading the tools you need to develop Android apps, including the Java SE, the Eclipse IDE, the Android SDK 3.x and the ADT Plugin for Eclipse.

Versions of Android Application Development

Versions of Android Application Development:

An History of Android Versions


1.0-Released on 23rd sep-2008
1.1-Released on 9th Feb-2009
1.5-Released on 30th April-2009(Cupcake)
1.6-Released on 15th Sep-2009(Donut)
2.0/2.1-Released on 26th Oct-2009(Eclair)
2.2-Released on 20th may-2010(Froyo)
2.3-Released on 6th Dec-2010(ginger Bread)
3.x-Released on 22nd Feb-2011(Honey Comb)
4.x-Released on 19th Oct-2011(IceCreamSandwich)

Android Overview

Android Overview:

The first-generation Android phones were released in October 2008. According to Gartner, North American sales of Android-based phones increased 707% in the first quarter of 2010 over the previous year.1 By March 2011, a Nielsen study showed that Android had 37% of the U.S. smartphone market share, compared to 27% for Apple’s iPhone and 22% for Blackberry.2 

In August 2010, more than 200,000 Android smartphones were being activated each day, up from 100,000 per day only two months earlier.3 As of June 2011, more than 500,000 Android devices were being activated daily. There are now over 300 different Android devices worldwide. 

The Android operating system was developed by Android, Inc., which was acquired by Google in July 2005. In November 2007, the Open Handset Alliance™—a 34-company consortium initially and 81 now (www.openhandsetalliance.com/oha_members.html)—was formed to develop Android, driving innovation in mobile technology and improving the user experience while reducing costs. Android is used in numerous smartphones, e-reader devices and tablet computers.

Android Introduction

Android Introduction:

Welcome to Android app development.

We hope that you’ll find working with Android for Programmers: An App-Driven Approach to be an informative, challenging, entertaining and rewarding experience. 

We use only complete working apps, so if you don’t know Java but have object-oriented programming experience in another language, such as C#, Objective-C/Cocoa or C++ (with class libraries), you should be able to master the material quickly, learning Java and Java-style object-oriented programming as you learn Android app development. 

In This blog uses an app-driven approach—we discuss each new technology in the context of complete working Android apps, with one app per chapter. We describe the app and test-drive it. Next, we briefly overview the key Eclipse (integrated development environment), Java and Android SDK (Software Development Kit) technologies we’ll use to implement the app. For apps that require it, we walk through designing the GUI visually using Eclipse. Then we provide the complete source-code listing, using line numbers, syntax shading (to mimic the syntax coloring used in the Eclipse IDE) and code highlighting to emphasize the key portions of the code. We also show one or more screen shots of the running app. Then we do a detailed code walkthrough, emphasizing the new programming concepts introduced in the app. 

Android Contents

Android Contents:

Introduction 


Android Overview 


Android 2.2 (Froyo)



Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) 


Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) 


Android Ice Cream Sandwich 


Downloading Apps from the Android Market 


Packages 


Android Software Development Kit (SDK) 


Object Technology: A Quick Refresher 


Test-Driving the Doodlz App in an Android Virtual Device (AVD) 


Deitel Resources 


Android Development Resources 


Wrap-Up

Introduction to Android

Introduction to Android:

Objectives :

In this chapter you’ll be introduced to: 

• The history of Android and the Android SDK. 
• The Android Market for apps. 
• A review of basic object-technology concepts. 
• Key software for Android app development, including the Android SDK, the Java SDK and Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE). 
• Important Android documentation. 
• Test-driving an Android app that enables you to draw on the screen. 
• The Deitel online Android Resource Centers.