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The Android platform is a software stack for mobile devices including an operating system, middleware and key applications. Developers can create applications for the platform using the Android SDK. Applications are written using the Java programming language and run on Dalvik, a custom virtual machine designed for embedded use which runs on top of a Linux kernel.
If you want to know how to develop applications for Android, you’re in the right place. This site provides a variety of documentation that will help you learn about Android and develop mobile applications for the platform.
What is Android?
Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. This early look at the Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.
Features
* Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components
* Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices
* Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine
* Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)
* SQLite for structured data storage
* Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)
* GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)
* Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)
* Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)
* Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE
Applications
Android will ship with a set of core applications including an email client, SMS program, calendar, maps, browser, contacts, and others. All applications are written using the Java programming language.
Application Framework
Developers have full access to the same framework APIs used by the core applications. The application architecture is designed to simplify the reuse of components; any application can publish its capabilities and any other application may then make use of those capabilities (subject to security constraints enforced by the framework). This same mechanism allows components to be replaced by the user.
Underlying all applications is a set of services and systems, including:
* A rich and extensible set of Views that can be used to build an application, including lists, grids, text boxes, buttons, and even an embeddable web browser
* Content Providers that enable applications to access data from other applications (such as Contacts), or to share their own data
* A Resource Manager, providing access to non-code resources such as localized strings, graphics, and layout files
* A Notification Manager that enables all applications to display custom alerts in the status bar
* An Activity Manager that manages the life cycle of applications and provides a common navigation backstack
Libraries
Android includes a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components of the Android system. These capabilities are exposed to developers through the Android application framework. Some of the core libraries are listed below:
* System C library - a BSD-derived implementation of the standard C system library (libc), tuned for embedded Linux-based devices
* Media Libraries - based on PacketVideo’s OpenCORE; the libraries support playback and recording of many popular audio and video formats, as well as static image files, including MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, and PNG
* Surface Manager - manages access to the display subsystem and seamlessly composites 2D and 3D graphic layers from multiple applications
* LibWebCore - a modern web browser engine which powers both the Android browser and an embeddable web view
* SGL - the underlying 2D graphics engine
* 3D libraries - an implementation based on OpenGL ES 1.0 APIs; the libraries use either hardware 3D acceleration (where available) or the included, highly optimized 3D software rasterizer
* FreeType - bitmap and vector font rendering
* SQLite - a powerful and lightweight relational database engine available to all applications
Android Runtime
Android includes a set of core libraries that provides most of the functionality available in the core libraries of the Java programming language.
Every Android application runs in its own process, with its own instance of the Dalvik virtual machine. Dalvik has been written so that a device can run multiple VMs efficiently. The Dalvik VM executes files in the Dalvik Executable (.dex) format which is optimized for minimal memory footprint. The VM is register-based, and runs classes compiled by a Java language compiler that have been transformed into the .dex format by the included "dx" tool.
The Dalvik VM relies on the Linux kernel for underlying functionality such as threading and low-level memory management.
Linux Kernel
Android relies on Linux version 2.6 for core system services such as security, memory management, process management, network stack, and driver model. The kernel also acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and the rest of the software stack.
Download the latest SDK from here
Following are the websites list who provide free php scripts. You can find lots of information about PHP as well as free code samples, code galleries, and free scripts for download at these and other sites. There may be some premium php scripts which may come for a price but overall the list is good enough.
http://www.scripts.com/php-scripts/
http://www.best-php-scripts.com/
http://www.thefreecountry.com/php/index.shtml
http://www.phpbuilder.com/snippet/
http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/
http://www.phpresourceindex.com/
I would be adding more to the list soon….
iPhone SDK includes Web app creation tool
The iPhone SDK (software development kit) made available yesterday includes a new version of Dashcode (v. 2.0 Beta [126]) that allows creation of Web apps for the iPhone. When you click run, these Web apps launch in the Aspen Simulator. The tool also has support for bundling home icon images into the deployed Web app.
Preset styles include the standard sliding-style “Browser” interface. Code snippets include gauges, indicators, forward and back buttons, form elements and more.
Whether this means Web apps will be able to be stored locally under iPhone software/firmware 2.0 has not yet been determined
iPhone OS 2.0 will support locally stored Web apps
It appears that Web-apps can be stored locally under the forthcoming iPhone OS 2.0. The new OS iteration will include support for the client-side database API, which is part of the HTML 5 spec. Apple says this functionality goes “well-beyond cookies” and has robust support for offline data usage.
Apple says that properly designed with the client-side database API can be “totally functional even with the network disconnected.”
The version of Safari included with iPhone OS 2.0 will also include a full-screen mode in Safari. This means that Web apps can be displayed without the Safari address bar and other elements. With an appropriate meta tag, a Web app launched from the home screen can automatically be launched in full-screen mode.
As previously reported, the iPhone SDK (software development kit) made available yesterday includes a new version of Dashcode (v. 2.0 Beta [126]) that allows creation of Web apps for the iPhone. When you click run, these Web apps launch in the Aspen Simulator. The tool also has support for bundling home icon images into the deployed Web app.
An Apple press release accompanying today’s “software roadmap” announcements states that “a limited number of developers will be accepted into Apple’s new iPhone Developer Program,” which is priced at $99. As previously reported, the program allows access to pre-release iPhone software; technical support; the ability to get code onto iPhones for testing; and distribution of applications via the new App Store.
The “Enterprise Program” costs $299 per year.
“The iPhone Developer Program will initially be available to a limited number of developers in the U.S. and will expand to other countries in the coming months.”
Which means that we third world programmers in UK with official iPhones still get treated like second class citizens, so I guess we might as well soldier on with the unofficial SDK and not be limited by Apple’s marketing policy.
Now I’m sure that Apple thinks that the rest of us will wait 6 months while other programmers get a lead on us.
But software development just isn’t like that. So I guess its down to who can break the new application installation / launch system first. And once its broken, it’ll stay broken.
Much like the Installer.app application used to install unofficial iPhone applications, official iPhone applications will be delivered wirelessly to the iPhone via “App Store,” a new program that will be added to the iPhone in the next software update.
All of the hosting, credit card transactions, etc. will be handled by Apple.
Developers will be able to set whatever price they want for applications, but Apple will take a 30% cut of revenues.
There will also be a mechanism to download applications onto your computer then transfer them.
For free applications, there will be no charge to the developer.
Software development kit for the iPhone is available to developers today as a free download (the iPhone Dev site is currently down for maintenance). Joining the iPhone developer program — which will provide technical support, code testing and allow distribution through the “App Store” — costs $99.
The iPhone 2.0 software update — which allows end-users to run iPhone applications and includes a bevy of enterprise-related enhancements, including Exchange support — will be released as a free update in June.
