Android Network Programming:

Introduction

Douglas C. Schmidt
[email protected]
www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/~schmidt

Professor of Computer Science

Institute for Software
Integrated Systems

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Introduction
• Explore the motivations for & challenges of networked software

Networked software defines protocols that enable computing

devices to exchange messages
2
& perform services remotely
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Introduction
• Explore the motivations for & challenges of networked software
• Describe the Android mechanisms available to implement apps & services
that communicate across process boundaries that span mobile devices &
server hosts

3
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Introduction
• Explore the motivations for & challenges of networked software
• Describe the Android mechanisms available to implement apps & services
that communicate across process boundaries
• Many Android apps use Sockets & TCP and/or HTTP to communicate &
exchange data via the Internet
• e.g., Browser, Email, MMS/SMS, Calendar, Contacts, etc.

Socket

Socket

4
See developer.android.com/training/basics/network-ops/connecting.html
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Introduction
• Explore the motivations for & challenges of networked software
• Describe the Android mechanisms available to implement apps & services
that communicate across process boundaries
• Many Android apps use Sockets & TCP and/or HTTP to communicate &
exchange data via the Internet
• Android also provides certain IPC mechanisms that are optimized for inter-
process communicate within a mobile device
• e.g., the Android Interface Definition Language (AIDL) & Binder framework
Process A Binder IPC Mechanism Process B
DownloadActivity DownloadService

1: Call method downloadImage() LocalBinder

mBoundService downloadImage()
2: Return results to caller

5
We’ll cover the the Android Binder & AIDL in later modules
Android Network Programming: Part 1

Douglas C. Schmidt
[email protected]
www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/~schmidt

Professor of Computer Science

Institute for Software
Integrated Systems

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Learning Objectives in this Part of the Module

• Understand the motivations for & challenges of networked software

7
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Motivations for Networked Software

• Collaboration & commerce
• e.g., file sharing, social
media, e-commerce online CLIENTS
transaction processing, B2B
supply chain management,
etc.

8
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Motivations for Networked Software

• Collaboration & commerce
• Scalability
• e.g., utility computing in clouds CLIENTS

9
www.ge.com/stories/industrial-internet has many apt examples
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Motivations for Networked Software

• Collaboration & commerce
• Scalability
• Availability CLIENTS

• e.g., minimizing single points

of failure via replication

10
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Motivations for Networked Software

• Collaboration & commerce
• Scalability
• Availability CLIENTS

• Cost effectiveness
• e.g., via shared resources

11
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Challenges for Networked Software

• Accidental Complexities
• Algorithmic decomposition

Algorithmic decomposition is
a historically popular design
method that structures the
software based on the actions
performed by the system

12
www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=726130&seqNum=5 has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Challenges for Networked Software

• Accidental Complexities
• Algorithmic decomposition
• Continuous re-discovery
& re-invention of core
components

13
See steve.vinoski.net/pdf/IEEE-Middleware_Dark_Matter.pdf for more
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Challenges for Networked Software

• Accidental Complexities
• Algorithmic decomposition
• Continuous re-discovery
& re-invention of core
components
• Inherent Complexities
• Latency & jitter

14
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Challenges for Networked Software

• Accidental Complexities
• Algorithmic decomposition
• Continuous re-discovery
& re-invention of core
components
• Inherent Complexities
• Latency & jitter
• Reliability & partial
failure

Error detection & handling is more15

complicated for networked software
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Challenges for Networked Software

• Accidental Complexities
• Algorithmic decomposition
• Continuous re-discovery
& re-invention of core
components
• Inherent Complexities
• Latency & jitter
• Reliability & partial
failure
• Security

16
See www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/~schmidt/PDF/pdcp-editorial.pdf for more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Summary
• Networked software helps
• Leverage advances in hardware
& networking technology
• Meet the quality & performance
needs of apps & services

17
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Summary
• Networked software helps
• Leverage advances in hardware
& networking technology
• Meet the quality & performance
needs of apps & services
• Successful networked software
solutions must address key accidental
& inherent complexities arising from
• Limitations with development
tools/techniques
• Fundamental domain challenges

18
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Summary
• Networked software helps
• Leverage advances in hardware
& networking technology
• Meet the quality & performance
needs of apps & services
• Successful networked software
solutions must address key accidental
& inherent complexities arising from
• Limitations with development
tools/techniques
• Fundamental domain challenges
• As networked systems have grown in
scale & functionality they must cope
with a broader & more challenging set
of complexities

19
Android Network Programming: Part 2

Douglas C. Schmidt
[email protected]
www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/~schmidt

Professor of Computer Science

Institute for Software
Integrated Systems

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Learning Objectives in this Part of the Module

• Understand the foundational network programming mechanisms in Android

Socket

Socket

21
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Overview of Android Network Programming

• Android includes multiple network
programming classes, e.g.,
• java.net – (Socket, URL, etc.)
• org.apache – (HttpRequest,
HttpResponse, etc.)
• android.net – (AndroidHttpClient,
URI, AudioStream, etc.)

22
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Overview of Android Network Programming

• Android includes multiple network
programming classes, e.g.,
• java.net – (Socket, URL, etc.)
• org.apache – (HttpRequest,
HttpResponse, etc.)
• android.net – (AndroidHttpClient,
URI, AudioStream, etc.)
• Under the hood, Android’s HTTP
libraries use the Java Sockets API
Socket
• A socket is a software endpoint
that can create a bi-directional Socket
“reliable” communication link
between software processes

Sockets are a common programming23

interface for network communication
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Overview of Android Network Programming

• Android includes multiple network
programming classes, e.g.,
• java.net – (Socket, URL, etc.)
• org.apache – (HttpRequest,
HttpResponse, etc.)
• android.net – (AndroidHttpClient,
URI, AudioStream, etc.)
• Under the hood, Android’s HTTP
libraries use the Java Sockets API
Socket
• Even deeper under the hood
Android’s java.net implementation Socket
uses the Linux C Socket API via JNI

24
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Native_Interface has more info on JNI
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Overview of Java Sockets

1: Passive Role

ServerSocket
accept()
Represents a server-side bind()
factory that waits for close()
incoming client connections
& creates connected Sockets

Socket

Network

25
developer.android.com/reference/java/net/ServerSocket.html
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Overview of Java Sockets

1: Passive Role

ServerSocket
accept()
Plays a portion of the bind()
Acceptor role in the close()
Acceptor-Connector pattern

Socket

Network

26
www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/~schmidt/PDF/Acc-Con.pdf has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Overview of Java Sockets

Provides a client-side (&
Provides a client-side 1: Passive Role
server-side) TCP socket
ServerSocket
2: Active Role
accept()
Socket bind()
bind() close()
close()
connect()
getInputStream()
getOutputStream() Socket

Network

27
developer.android.com/reference/java/net/Socket.html
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Overview of Java Sockets

Clients & servers designate their
Provides
Providesa aclient-side
client-side 1: Passive Role
addresses with an InetAddress
ServerSocket
2: Active Role
accept()
Socket bind()
bind() close()
close()
connect()
getInputStream()
getOutputStream() Socket

Network

28
developer.android.com/reference/java/net/InetAddress.html
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Overview of Java Sockets

1: Passive Role
InputStream &
2: Active Role
ServerSocket OutputStream are
accept() used to exchange
Socket bind() bytes on
bind() close() connected sockets
close()
connect()
getInputStream()
getOutputStream() Socket
3: Communication
Role

Network

29
oreilly.com/catalog/javaio/chapter/ch05.html has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

InputStream in Android
• An InputStream is a stream of incoming byte data
• An InputStream can be obtained from a Socket by using the
getInputStream() method
• To read from a stream, you must create a byte buffer to read in data
• Each call to read on an InputStream fills your buffer with data & returns the
number of bytes read

InputStream in = someSocket.getInputStream();
const int BUFSIZ = 1024;
byte[] buffer = new byte[BUFSIZ];

for(int bytesRead;
(bytesRead = in.read(buffer,0,buffer.length)) != -1;
) {
// the buffer’s been filled, do something with the data
}

30
developer.android.com/reference/java/io/InputStream.html has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

InputStreamReader in Android
• An InputStreamReader turns a byte stream into a character stream
• Data read from the source input stream is converted into characters by
either a default or a provided character converter
• InputStreamReader contains an 8K buffer of bytes read from the source
stream & converts these into characters as needed
InputStream in = someSocket.getInputStream();
Reader reader = new InputStreamReader(in);

Read one character at a time

for (int data; (data = reader.read()) != -1; ){

char theChar = (char) data;
// … do something with the data
}

reader.close();

31
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

InputStreamReader in Android
• An InputStreamReader turns a byte stream into a character stream
• Data read from the source input stream is converted into characters by
either a default or a provided character converter
• InputStreamReader contains an 8K buffer of bytes read from the source
stream & converts these into characters as needed
InputStream in = someSocket.getInputStream();
Reader reader = new InputStreamReader(in);

for (int data; (data = reader.read()) != -1; ){

char theChar = (char) data;
// … do something with the data
}
Can also read a buffer at a time
reader.close();

32
developer.android.com/reference/java/io/InputStreamReader.html has more
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

BufferedReader in Android
• Wraps an existing Reader & buffers the input
• Expensive interaction with underlying reader is minimized, since most
(smaller) requests can be satisfied by accessing buffer alone
• Drawback is that some extra space is required to hold the buffer & copying
takes place when filling that buffer

BufferedReader bufferedReader =
new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader
(someSocket.getInputStream()));

for (String data;

(data = bufferedReader.readLine()) != null; ){
// … do something with the data
}

bufferedReader.close();

33
developer.android.com/reference/java/io/BufferedReader.html has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

OutputStream in Android
• An OutputStream is a stream of outgoing byte data
• An OutputStream can be obtained from a Socket by using the
getOutputStream() method
• You can write data to a stream by passing in a byte buffer of data
• You should use flush() if you want to ensure the data you have written is
output to disk or sent to other end of socket

OutputStream out = someSocket.getOutputStream();

out.write("Hello Socket".getBytes());
out.flush();

byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];

// fill the buffer
out.write(buffer,0,buffer.length);
out.close();

34
developer.android.com/reference/java/io/OutputStream.html has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

OutputStreamWriter in Android
• A class for turning a character stream into a byte stream
• Data written to the target input stream is converted into bytes by either a
default or a provided character converter
• OutputStreamWriter contains an 8K buffer of bytes to be written to target
stream & converts these into characters as needed

OutputStreamWriter out =
new OutputStreamWriter
(someSocket.getOutputStream());

String string1 = "Android socket IO",

string2 = " is fun";

out.write(string1);
out.append(string2);
out.flush();
out.close();

developer.android.com/reference/java/io/OutputStreamWriter.html
35 has more
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

PrintWriter in Android
• Wraps either an existing OutputStream or an existing Writer (including
OutputStreamWriter)
• Provides convenience methods for printing common data types in a human
readable format
PrintWriter pw =
new PrintWriter(new
OutputStreamWriter(someSocket.getOutputStream()),
// “true” indicates auto-flush
true);
pw.println("GET /index.html");

BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new

InputStreamReader(socket.getInputStream()));

for (String rawData; (rawData = br.readLine()) != null; )

data.append(rawData);

36
developer.android.com/reference/java/io/PrintWriter.html has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Android I/O Implements the Decorator Pattern

• The Java I/O streams classes use the Decorator pattern, which allows for
the dynamic wrapping of objects to modify their existing responsibilities &
behaviors

• Stream classes extend the base subclasses to add features to the stream
classes

37
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decorator_pattern has more on Decorator
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Programming Java Sockets in Android

public class NetworkingSocketsActivity extends Activity
{
TextView mTextView = null;

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

...
// assuming server is listening on port 80
new HttpGet().execute("www.dre.vanderbilt.edu ");
}
Pass a URL to the template
method of an AsyncTask

38
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Programming Java Sockets in Android

private class HttpGet
extends AsyncTask<String, Void, String> {

Runs in a background thread

protected String doInBackground(String... params) {
Socket socket = null;
StringBuffer data = new StringBuffer();
try {
socket = new Socket(params[0], 80);
Connect to the server
PrintWriter pw =
new PrintWriter(new
OutputStreamWriter(socket.getOutputStream()),
true);
pw.println("GET /index.html");
...
Send GET request

39
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Programming Java Sockets in Android

...
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(
new InputStreamReader
(socket.getInputStream()));
String rawData;
while ((rawData = br.readLine()) != null) {
data.append(rawData);
} Read data from server
} catch ...
// close socket
return data.toString(); Return data as a String
...
} Display the text on the screen

protected void onPostExecute(String result) {

mTextView.setText(result);
}
40
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Programming with URLConnection in Android

public class NetworkingURLActivity extends Activity {

TextView mTextView = null;

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

new HttpGetTask().execute
("http://api.geonames.org/...");
}
... Pass a URL to the template
method of an AsyncTask

41
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Programming with URLConnection in Android

private class HttpGetTask
extends AsyncTask<String, Void, String> {
Runs in a background thread
...
protected String doInBackground(String... params) {
StringBuffer serverData = new StringBuffer();
HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection) new
URL(params[0]).openConnection();
Connect to the server &
send GET request
InputStream in =
new BufferedInputStream(conn.getInputStream());
BufferedReader br = ...;
... Read & process the
data from the server
return serverData.toString(); Return data as a String
...
42
developer.android.com/reference/java/net/URLConnection.html has more
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Networking Permissions
• To allow an app to access the
Internet using Eclipse, open
AndroidManifest.xml, go to
“Permissions” tab, add "Uses
Permission" & select android.
permission.INTERNET

43
developer.android.com/training/basics/network-ops/connecting.html
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Networking Permissions
• To allow an app to access the <manifest
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android
Internet using Eclipse, open com/apk/res/android"
AndroidManifest.xml, go to
“Permissions” tab, add "Uses package="examples.threadeddownloads"
Permission" & select android. android:versionCode="1"
permission.INTERNET android:versionName="1.0" >
• Alternatively, open the
AndroidManifest.xml file <uses-permission android:name=
as raw XML & add a line "android.permission.INTERNET">
</uses-permission>
near the top:

If you don't do this, your application will crash with an

UnknownHostException when trying to access a remote host!!

44
ffct.cc/android-development-accessing-the-internet
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Summary
• Android provides a wide range of network programming mechanisms

www.vogella.com/tutorials.html

45& resources available online

There are many Android tutorials
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Summary
• Android provides a wide range of network programming mechanisms
• There are many patterns underlying these Android network programming
mechanisms, e.g.:
• Wrapper Facade

www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/~schmidt/PDF/wrapper-facade.pdf
46 has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Summary
• Android provides a wide range of network programming mechanisms
• There are many patterns underlying these Android network programming
mechanisms, e.g.:
Variations in how Socket
• Wrapper Façade is implemented
• Bridge
Variations in what
service a Socket provides

Socket SocketImpl

SSLSocket CompressionSocket WindowsSocketImpl UNIXSocketImpl

operation() operation()

47
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_pattern has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Summary
• Android provides a wide range of network programming mechanisms
• There are many patterns underlying these Android network programming
mechanisms, e.g.:
• Wrapper Façade
• Bridge
• Decorator

48
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decorator_pattern has more info
Network Programming Douglas C. Schmidt

Summary
• Android provides a wide range of network programming mechanisms
• There are many patterns underlying these Android network programming
mechanisms, e.g.:
• Wrapper Façade
• Bridge
• Decorator
• Acceptor-Connector

49
www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/~schmidt/PDF/Acc-Con.pdf has more info