Introduction to Mobile Application Development, Android Overview

Introduction to Mobile Application

Development, Android Overview

Semester 2, 2014 COSC2309/2347 Mobile Application Development Topic 1, Slide 1

(Authors: Dr Caspar Ryan, Dr Ermyas Abebe)

Mobile Application Development

• Lecturer/Course Leader: Dr Caspar Ryan

• Room: 14.11.32

• Phone: 9925-9775

• Email: [email protected]

• Pre-requisites:

– COSC2391/2401 Software Architecture: Design and

Implementation OR COSC1295 Advanced Programming

(formerly Java for Programmers) OR former Programming 2

– COSC 1285/2123 Algorithms & Analysis (this pre-requisite

may be waived if you achieved a DI or above in your Java

programming course)


Course Objectives

• Understand the capabilities and limitations of a range of mobile

computing devices and environments

• Understand the components of a mobile development framework

and learn how and when to apply the different components to

develop a working system

• Understand different types of application models/architectures

used to develop mobile software applications

• Understand and apply software patterns for the development of

the application models described above

* Design, implement and deploy mobile applications using an

appropriate software development environment (Android)


Value Propositions

• ‘Cool’ technology is not enough to guarantee uptake

– dot-com bust

• Technology uptake requires:

– reduced cost of service delivery/work output

– saved time e.g. push technology (stock market updates,

RSS)

– customer satisfaction

• Opportunities in:

– Business to consumer (B2C)

– Business to business (B2B)

– Business to employee (B2E)


Mobile Application Domains

• Enterprise Mobility– finance (e.g. Stock Market)

– sales (finalise sales/orders in the field)

– logistics (e.g. FedEx)

– supply chain management (warehousing, inventory etc.)*

– service technicians (online schematics etc.)

• Social and Entertainment– Instant messaging (WhatsApp etc.)

– Communication (Skype etc.)

– Microblogging (Twitter etc.)

– Social Media and Networking (Facebook, Foursquare etc.)

– Gaming (single player, online (e.g. MMO), peer to peer)


Mobile Application Domains (contd.)

• Groupware and productivity– email/tasks/calendar etc.

– shared document editing

– meeting scheduler (e.g. gps based)

– Communities of practice (e.g. LinkedIn)

• The Internet of “Things”– pervasive connectivity

– appliances

– sensors

– mobile and fixed computers

– big data, real time/continuous queries


Mobile Application Domains (contd.)

• Community Based

– Emergency service co-ordination (police, fire, ambulance, SES)

– Health care (tele-medicine, assisted living, medical records etc.)

– Virtual community/social networking

• Military/Counter Terrorism

– Intelligence gathering

– Field co-ordination

• Educational

– Highly interactive lectures

– Campus wide connectivity

– eBooks, podcasting, streaming etc.


Mobile Device Characteristics

• Form Factors

– PDA (iPod touch, Palm etc.)

– Smartphone (with or without physical keyboard)

– Tablet (e.g. iPad, Android Tablets (Galaxy etc.))

– Netbook (and hybrid tablet e.g. ASUS

Transformer)

– Hybrid/Tablet PC (keyboard and digitiser/stylus)

– Laptop/Notebook/Desktop Replacement

– Wearable devices, glasses, watches etc. (more

coming soon!)



Pervasive/Wearable Computing

● Implications?

o New computing paradigms

o Distributed data and computation

o Crowdsourcing/Virtual or Community Clouds

o Privacy/Monopoly?

o Social awkwardness/distraction (only 1 in 10 would wear

glass)*

* http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/1-10-wear-google-glass-article-1.1344844

Semester 2, 2014 COSC2309/2347 Mobile Application Development


• Input Styles

– touch/gesture input (e.g. iPhone/iPad, Android)

– stylus/pen input (e.g. Microsoft Surface, Galaxy Note,

Tablet PC, PDA)

– integrated miniature keyboard (keypad or QWERTY) e.g.

Blackberry

– integrated full keyboard e.g. Tablet PC, hybrid tablet

– add-on keyboards e.g. Surface Typecover, iPad dock,

Bluetooth keyboards available for most devices

– voice e.g. in-car navigation, Apple Siri, Android Majel

– motion input e.g. accelerometer/gyroscope (Microsoft

Kinect style coming soon?)



• Display/Output

– line based LCD (early generation smartphone)

– graphical display

• sizes, orientations

• resolutions and colour depths

• Technologies e.g. LCD, LED, OLED, eInk etc.

– audio including speech e.g. in car navigation,

personal assistant

– haptic feedback e.g. vibration



• Connectivity (may be limited or non-existent)– Serial/USB (charging, data transfer)

– Infrared (e.g. programmable consumer remote)

– Bluetooth/LE (I/O devices e.g. headset, joystick, fitness,

medical)

– Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 (when available)

– GPRS, 3G, 4G (wide coverage networking)

– NFC (mobile payment, social apps)

– ZigBee IEEE 802.15.4 (personal area networks PAN, e.g.

home automation, body area networks)

• Limited battery life (critical!)

– Must moderate power usage


Mobile Operating Systems

• Android

– Wide range of devices

– Open Source OS and Tools

– Java based development (and native option for performance)

• Apple iOS

– Proprietary OS and devices

– Objective C

– Mac only development platform

• Microsoft Windows Phone (successor to Windows Mobile)

– Strict Smartphone Specifications for version 7 (screen, memory)

– C++ Native, .NET CF, SilverLight, HTML 5

– Windows Phone 8 shares APIs with desktop windows (and

Windows NT kernel instead of Windows CE)


Mobile Operating Systems (contd.)

• Linux

– PDA/Smartphone

– Java/C++ Native

– Ubuntu distributions, Samsung etc.

• HTML 5

– cross platform

– may be embedded in native apps

• Others

– WebOS

– Blackberry

– Symbian

– Palm etc.


What is Android?

• Software stack for mobile devices including OS,

middleware and set of applications

• From Google and the Open Handset Alliance (a

consortium of mobile operators, software companies

and handset manufacturers)

• OS is based on Linux Kernel 2.6

• Software Stack Consists of Java Applications executing

on a Dalvik Virtual Machine (VM Optimized for mobile

devices)

• Currently over 1.3 Million* apps (Android Market and

third-party sites) with high percentage free (approx. 2

thirds)

• Features: Multitouch, Multitasking, Connectivity (NFC,

3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth etc.), Tethering**, GPS, Gyroscope,

Magnetometer, Accelerometer etc.

• Latest Version: 4.0+ (Ice Cream Sandwich) integrates

Tablet and phone functionality.

* http://www.appbrain.com/stats/number-of-android-apps ** Prior to 2.2 required third-party apps


Why Android?

• Free and Open Source under the Apache

License (more permissive than GPL)

• Free to Develop (no developer license

required or certification fees)

• Partnership with 84 firms including Software

Companies, Handset manufacturers, Mobile

Operators, through the Open Handset

Alliance

• Secure Operating System (is based on Linux

Kernel 2.6) and Robust software framework

• Leverages the power and popularity of Java

• Powerful SDK and plug-in for popular open

source IDE (Eclipse )

• Targets a range of devices, Feature phones,

Smartphones and Tablet Devices


Android Versions (2014)

Most Popular Version is Android 4.1.x (Jelly Bean, API level 10)

with 27.8% of Devices*


* https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html


Most Popular Version is Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread, API level 10)

with 45.4% of Devices*

* Data collected during a 14-day period ending on February 4, 2013


Version Codename API Distribu

tion

1.6 Donut 4 0.2%

2.1 Eclair 7 2.2%

2.2 Froyo 8 8.1%

2.3 -

2.3.2

Gingerbread 9 0.2%

2.3.3 -

2.3.7

10 45.4%

3.1 Honeycomb 12 0.3%

3.2 13 1.0%

4.0.3 -

4.0.4

Ice Cream

Sandwich

15 29.0%

4.1 Jelly Bean 16 12.2%

4.2 17 1.4%


Most Popular Version in 2012 was Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread, API

level 10) with 54.9% of Devices*

* Data collected during a 14-day period ending on January 3, 2012


Android Architecture

• OS is based on Linux Kernel 2.6

(security, memory

management, network,

process management etc.)

• multi-user system where each

application has a unique user

id and a separate process

• Provides abstraction of

underlying hardware

Libraries:

C/C++ libraries which are exposed to

developers through the Application

framework.

Includes display subsystem (2D and 3D

graphics layers), audio and video formats,

database engine etc.

1

2

1

2 3

4

5


Android Architecture (Dalvik)

Android Runtime: Includes MOST of the

Core Libraries of the Java Programming

language (SE JDK 1.5). See slide 18

Dalvik Virtual Machine: Register-based VM,

Optimized for mobile devices

Includes Just-In-Time Compilation (since

Froyo, 2.2)

Runs java classes which have been

transformed into Dalvik Executable files

(.dex)

.dex file could include more than one java

.class file

Each Application Runs its own instance of

the Dalvik VM

3

1

2 3

4

5


Android Architecture (Application)

Application Framework: Set of Java

services and systems which expose

system libraries to developers

run on the Dalvik VM to allow

development of applications

4

Applications: Core Pre-installed

applications such as Phone, Email,

Map, Browser, Contacts etc. All written

in Java

5

1

2 3

4

5


Android APIs == Java SE?

• Android includes most of Java SE 5.0

library specification, but not all (check

Android API docs for specifics)

• Libraries are based on Apache

Harmony which provides a clean-

room implementation of Java SE

• Android UI Framework is neither

Swing nor AWT

• No JVM support in android

• Oracle Vs. Google lawsuit, copyright

and patent infringements

included from Java SE 5.0:

excluded:


Developing for Android

25

Android SDK Includes: Tools and APIs for Developing in the Java Programming Language including Emulator (see below)

Android Developer Toolkit Plug-in for Eclipse (ADT) or standalone bundle including eclipse

Emulator (Virtual Device) for development and testing (slow startup but only need to start once, snapshots available), also Direct USB debugging on real device

Optional C/C++ native development kit (Android NDK)

Semester 2, 2014 COSC2309/2347 Mobile Application Development

Emulator Functions

- Simulates real device environment (runs ARM bytecode using qemu emulator or x86 using hardware acceleration HAX)- Fully configurable (e.g. screen sizes and resolutions, underlying hardware configurations, SD card size, RAM size etc.)- Provides easy access to the default system settings common to all Android-based devices (e.g. Wireless controls, Sound and Display, Security etc.)- Can emulate calling and SMS messaging between two emulator instances- Can simulate location based services (using “dummy” GPS coordinates)


27

Emulator Limitations

- Limited ability to determine device state (e.g. network state, battery charge etc.)

- Limited performance (real devices usually perform better than the emulator)

- Limited support for manufacturer or operator-specific device characteristics

- No in-built sensor management/support. Can integrate additional tools such as OpenIntents’ SensorSimulator that lets you simulate sensor data with the mouse in real time (covering accelerometer, compass, and temperature sensors)

- No USB or Bluetooth support- The Genymotion emulator running on VirtualBox VM

alleviates some of these limitations (https://cloud.genymotion.com)


References

• http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html

• Joseph Annuzzi Jr., Lauren Darcey, Shane Conder, Introduction to Android

Application Development: Android Essentials (4th edition), Addison-Wesley,

2013 ISBN: 9780321940261

• Lauren Darcey, Shane Conder, Android Wireless Application Development

Volume II: Advanced Topics (3rd Edition), Addison-Wesley, 2012 ISBN:

9780321813848

• Carmen Delessio, Lauren Darcey and Shane Conder, SAMS Teach Yourself

Android App Development in 24 Hours (3rd Ed.), SAMS, 2013

• Ed Burnette, Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development

Platform (Pragmatic Programmers)

• http://www.androlib.com/appstats.aspx

• http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-

phones/229401700

• http://edwinhm.blogspot.com/2008/04/android-comparisons-with-j2me.html

• http://bit.ly/jBVclE


Introduction to Mobile Application Development, Android Overview

Documents

Transcript of Introduction to Mobile Application Development, Android Overview