Android Developer Studio Setup – Google Android SDK

To create an Android application, we have to set up the development environment which will be using Android Developer Studio. It is compatible with following Operating Systems.

Windows XP or later version
Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later version
Linux

Here, in the following post, we will learn how to setup the environment on Windows 10 (64 bit) operating system.

There are many tools for Android development like IntelliJIDEA, Titanium, Android NDK, Eclipse, Android Studio.

So, as a beginner, we can choose Eclipse but we have to prefer Android Studio because nowadays to see the requirement of application it provides everything for development of apps.

Android Studio includes Android SDK tools and Android Studio IDE.

Requirements for Android Development Environment Setup

Java Runtime Environment (JRE 6 or greater).
Java Development Kit (JDK 6 or greater).
Android Studio

Android SDK requires JDK. We can get the latest version of JDK very easily from Oracle official website.

Download JDK from the following location: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

After downloading and installing the JDK, we have to set the Environment path.

To setup, environment path goto:

My Computer

->Properties
->Advanced System Settings
->Environment Variables
->Path of JDK
->OK

By doing this you set the path of your JDK, then you can download the latest version of Android Developer Studio and install it.

To build applications for Android, you need the Android SDK.

The SDK comes with the base tools. After that, you download the package parts that you need and you want to use, it includes emulator so you don’t need a mobile device with the Android OS to develop applications.

Download Android Developer Studio from the following location: https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio.html

You need to download Android Developer Studio i.e 32 bit or 64 bit according to your system configuration.

Some steps for installation of Android Developer Studio

Launch the downloaded EXE file, android-studio-bundle-<version>.exe and click Next
Keep the default selection and click on Next button
Keep default destination folder path and click Next button
Then, Click Install button
Once the installation is completed, it will show the message. Click Next button
Click Finish button to complete the installation.

After successful installation, it will start Android Studio.

Now, we are ready to do development of Android applications. It includes the developer tools.

We have to download the necessary packages in Android SDK Manager to complete our SDK for programming.

Android Architecture – Android Software Stack | Framework

In Android, the software stack or Android architecture is the combination of Linux Kernel, Native Libraries, Android runtime i.e. Dalvik VM, Application Frameworks and Applications.

Let us understand the android architecture using the figure below.

Linux kernel

Linux kernel is responsible for Memory management, File management, Scheduling, Security and other OS duties.

This is the kernel on which Android is based. This layer contains all the low-level device drivers for the various hardware components of an Android device.

Native Libraries

Native libraries are written in C/C++ and includes Media, SQLite, OpenGL, Graphics etc. These contain all the code that provides the main features of an Android OS

Some of these libraries are:

android.app

It provides application class, activity.

android.animation

It provides classes for animation.

android.content

It provides binder related classes for example Intent, Binder.

android.database

It provides database functionality (SQLite).

android.graphics

To handle graphics.

Android Runtime

Android runtime includes Dalvik VM. The key figure in Google implementation of the JVM is Dan Bornstein, who wrote the Dalvik VM.

Dalvik is the name of a town in Iceland. Dalvik VM takes the generated java class files and combines them into one or more Dalvik Executable (.dex) files.

The goal of Dalvik VM is to find every possible way to optimize the JVM for space, performance and battery life.

Application frameworks

Application framework provides all manager for development like Activity Manager, Location Manager, and Notification Manager etc.

It exposes the various capabilities of the Android OS to application developers so that they can make use of them in their applications.

ActivityManager

It manages the Application Lifecycle and Activity stack.

LocationManager

All locations are generated by LocationManager. (Latitude, Longitude, Timestamp etc).

NotificationManager

It allows applications to show alerts and notifications to the user.

And at last, at the top Applications layer, any applications that you write are located. Like the calculator, calendar, camera etc.

Android Introduction – History, Features and Versions

What is Android?

Android is an Operating system for mobile devices like Smartphones and Tablets and it became the fastest growing mobile OS.

Few key points to know about Android are:

Developed by Open Handset Alliance, led by Google
Android is Open Source
Linux based
It has Dalvik VM

History of Android

In 2005 Google acquired the startup company called as Android Inc. to start the development of Android platform. The key players at Android Inc. included Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears and Chris White.

The Android SDK was first issued as an “early look” release in November 2007 and in September 2008 T-Mobile announced the availability of T-Mobile G1 which was the first smartphone based on the Android Platform.

Features of Android

There are a lot of Features in Android and some of the key features are as follows:

Messaging: – SMS, MMS and Google Cloud Messaging (GCM).
Multitouch: – Android has native support for Multitouch.
Multitasking: – Multitasking of applications with the unique handling of memory allocation is also available.
Multiple Language Support: – Android also supports multiple languages.
Connectivity: – Android supports connectivity technologies including GSM/EDGE, Bluetooth, LTE, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, NFC, IDEN, and WiMAX.
Media support :- Android supports the following audio/video/still media formats: WebM, H.263,H.264, AAC, HE-AAC (in3GP orMP4 container), MPEG-4 SP, AMR, AMR-WB (in 3GP container), MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, and WebP.
Storage: – SQLite which is a lightweight relational database is used for data storage purposes.

Versions of Android

Let’s see all the version history of Android in the following table.

Code name	Version number	Initial release date	API level
N/A	1.0	23 September 2008	1
N/A	1.1	9 February 2009	2
Cupcake	1.5	27 April 2009	3
Donut	1.6	15 September 2009	4
Eclair	2.0 – 2.1	26 October 2009	5–7
Froyo	2.2 – 2.2.3	20 May 2010	8
Gingerbread	2.3 – 2.3.7	6 December 2010	9–10
Honeycomb	3.0 – 3.2.6	22 February 2011	11–13
Ice Cream Sandwich	4.0 – 4.0.4	18 October 2011	14–15
Jelly Bean	4.1 – 4.3.1	9 July 2012	16–18
KitKat	4.4 – 4.4.4	31 October 2013	19–20
Lollipop	5.0 – 5.1.1	12 November 2014	21–22
Marshmallow	6.0 – 6.0.1	5 October 2015	23
Nougat	7.0 – 7.1.2	22 August 2016	24 – 25

Version history table courtesy: Wikipedia

Versions 1.0 and 1.1 were not released under specific code names, but since April 2009’s Android 1.5 “Cupcake”, Android versions have had confectionery-themed code names.

Each Android version is in alphabetical order, with the most recent being Android 7.0 “Nougat”, released in August 2016.