BCA650 – Android Application

Development
Unit:1.1
Android: Introduction, Activities, Fragments, Intents
 Introduction
“Anytime – Anywhere – Anything”
What is Android?
 Android is an open source operating system and programming
platform developed by Google for mobile phones and other
mobile devices, such as tablets.
 It can run on many different devices from many different
manufacturers.
 Android includesa softwaredevelopment kit (SDK) that
helps you write original code and assemble software modules to
create apps for Android
users.
 Android also provides a marketplace to distribute apps. All
together, Android represents an ecosystem for mobile apps.
 Introduction
Why develop apps for Android?
• Developers create apps for a variety of reasons.
• They may need to address business requirements or build new
services or
businesses, or they may want to offer games and other types of
content for
users.
• Developers choose to develop for Android in order to reach the
majority of mobile device users.
Most popular platform for mobile apps
• As the world's most popular mobile platform, Android powers
hundreds of
millions of mobile devices in more than 190 countries around the
world.
• It has the largest installed base of any mobile platform and is still
growing fast. Every day another million users power up their Android-
powered devices for the first time and start looking for apps, games,
 Introduction
 Best experience for app users
 Android provides a touch screen user interface (UI) for interacting
with apps. Android's UI is mainly based on direct manipulation.
 People use touch gestures such as swiping, tapping, and pinching
to manipulate
on-screen objects.
 In addition to the keyboard, there's a customizable on-screen
keyboard for text
input.
 Android can also support game controllers and full-size physical
keyboards connected by Bluetooth or USB.
 The Android home screen can contain several panes of app icons,
which launch
their associated apps.
 Home screen panes can also contain app widgets, which display live,
auto- updating content such as the weather, the user's email inbox,
 Introduction
• The Android platform, based on the Linux kernel, is designed
primarily for touch screen mobile devices such as mobile
phones and tablets.
• Because Android-powered devices are usually battery-powered,
Android is designed to manage processes to keep power
consumption at a minimum, providing longer battery use.
 Android Features
• It’s an open source and we can customize the OS based on our
requirements.
• It support a connectivity for GSM, CDMA, WIFI, NFC,
Bluetooth, etc. for telephony or data transfer.
• It will allow to make or receive a calls / SMS messages and we
can send or retrieve a data across mobile networks.
• By using WIFI technology we can pair with other devices using
apps
• Android have a multiple APIs to support a location-based services
such as GPS
• We can perform all data storage related activities by using light
weight database
SQLite.
• It have a wide range of media supports like AVI, MKV, FLV, MPEG4
etc. to play or record variety of audio / video and having a different
 Android Features
• It has an extensive support for multimedia hardware control
to perform playback or recording using camera and
microphone
• It has an integrated open source webkit layout based web
browser to support HTML5, CSS3
• It supports a multi-tasking, we can move from one task
window to another
and multiple applications can run simultaneously .
• It will give a chance to reuse the application components
and the replacement of native applications.
• We can access the hardware components like Camera,
GPS, and
Accelerometer
 Android History
• Initially Google launched a first version of Android platform on Nov
5, 2007.
• From that onwards Google released a lot of android versions under
a codename based on desserts, such as Apple Pie, Banana Bread,
Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Jellybeans, Kitkat,
Lollipop, marshmallow, etc. and made a lot of changes and
Release Date Version API Level Version Name
additions to the android platform.
September 23, 2008 Android 1.0 1 Apple Pie
February 9, 2009 Android 1.1 2 Banana Bread
April 30, 2009 Android 1.5 3 Cupcake
September 15, 2009 Android 1.6 4 Donut
October 26, 2009 Android 2.0 5
December 3, 2009 Android 2.0.1 6 Eclair
January 12, 2010 Android 2.1 7
 Android History
Release Date Version API Level Version Name
May 20, 2010 Android 2.2 8
January 18, 2011 Android 2.2.1 8
Froyo
January 22, 2011 Android 2.2.2 8
November 21, 2011 Android 2.2.3 8
December 6, 2010 Android 2.3 9
February 9, 2011 Android 2.3.1 9
Gingerbread
July 25, 2011 Android 2.3.3 10
September 2, 2011 Android 2.3.4 10
February 22, 2011 Android 3.0.x 11
May 10, 2011 Android 3.1.x 12 Honeycomb
July 15, 2011 Android 3.2.x 13
October 18,2011 Android 4.0 14
October 19, 2011 Android 4.0.1 14 Ice Cream
Sandwich
November 28, 2011 Android 4.0.2 14
 Android History
Release Date Version API Level Version Name
December 16, Android 4.0.3 15 Ice Cream Sandwich
2011
February 4, 2012 Android 4.0.4 15
July 9, 2012 Android 4.1 16
July 23, 2012 Android 4.1.1 16
October 9, 2012 Android 4.1.2 16
November 13, Android 4.2 17 Jelly Bean
2012
November 27, Android 4.2.1 17
2012
February 11, 2013 Android 4.2.2 17
July 24, 2013 Android 4.3 18
October 31, 2013 Android 4.4 19
Android 4.4.1, 4.4.2, Kitkat
June 23, 2014 19
4.4.3,
4.4.4
October 17, 2014 Android 5.0 21
 Android History
Release Date Version API Level Version Name
October 5, 2015 Android 6.0 23
Marshmallow
December 7, 2015 Android 6.0.1 23
August 22, 2016 Android 7.0 24
Nougat
October 4, 2016 Android 7.1 25
August 21, 2017 Android 8.0 26
Oreo
December 5, 2017 Android 8.1 27
August 6, 2018 Android 9.0 28 Pie
September 3, 2019 Android 10.0 29 Q-
September 8, 2020 Android 11.0 30 R – Red Velvet
cake
October 4, 2021 Android 12.0 31 Snow Cone
March 7, 2022 Android 12L 32 Snow Cone v2
Q3 2022 Android 13 33 Tiramisu
September 3, 2024 Android 15 Vanilla icecream
Key platform components
 Key platform components
• The Android platform can be broken down into five
sections:
■ Applications

■ Application framework

■ Middleware libraries

■ Operating system

■ SDK and developer tools

 Applications
• Different types of applications are available on most Android
devices
• Core open source applications are included as part of Android
itself, such as
the Browser Camera Gallery Music Phone , and more...
• There are also non–open source Google apps that are included
with most official builds, including Market Gmail Maps
YouTube and more....
• Third-party applications are available in the Android Market,
which can be
either open source or proprietary.
• Official apps from popular services like Twitter and Face
book, and thousands of other choices....
 Application framework
• The application framework provides a tightly integrated part of
the platform SDK and APIs that allow for high-level interaction
with the system from within applications.
• When your application needs access to hardware sensors, network
data, the state of interface elements, or many other things, it gets
to that information through the application framework
 Middleware libraries
• As the name suggests, middleware is software components
that sit in between—in this case between the operating
system and the applications/application framework.
• The middleware includes libraries for many functions (data
storage, graphics rendering, web browsing, and so on) and it also
contains a special subsection called the Dalvik runtime till Android
5.0) later versions have Android Run Time (ART)
• This is Android’s special nonstandard virtual machine (VM) and its
core
application libraries.
 Operating system
• At the bottom of the Android stack is the operating system.

• Android’s OS is Linux based and performs much the same tasks

you’d
expect from any conventional desktop computer OS.
• This includes interfacing with the hardware through a set of
device drivers such as audio or video drivers), processing user
input, managing application processes, handling file and
network I/O, and so forth...
 SDK and developer tools
• With Android’s layered design, each level is an abstraction
of the one beneath it.
• As a developer you won’t have to deal with lower-level
details directly.
• Rather, you’ll always access subsystems by going through simple
interfaces exposed in Android’s application framework.
 ANDROID – Environment Setup
You can start your Android application development on either of the
following
operating systems:
 Microsoft Windows 10 or later version.
 Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later version with Intel chip.
 Linux including GNU C Library 2.7 or later.
All the required tools to develop Android applications are freely
available and
can be downloaded from the Web.
List of software needed:
 Java JDK12 or 21 or later version
 Android Studio (current version is 15)

There are so many sophisticated Technologies are available to

develop android applications, the familiar technology used is Android
ANDROID – Architecture
 ANDROID – Architecture
• Android operating system is a stack of software components which
is roughly divided into five sections and four main layers as shown
below in the architecture diagram.
Linux kernel
• At the bottom of the layers is Linux - Linux 3.6 with
approximately 115 patches.
• This provides a level of abstraction between the device hardware
and it contains all the essential hardware drivers like camera,
keypad, display etc.
• Also, the kernel handles all the things that Linux is really
good at such as networking and a vast array of device drivers,
which take the pain out of interfacing to peripheral hardware.
 ANDROID – Architecture
Libraries
• On top of Linux kernel there is a set of libraries including open-
source Web browser engine WebKit, well known library libc, SQLite
database which is a useful repository for storage and sharing of
application data, libraries to play and record audio and video, SSL
libraries responsible for Internet security etc.
Android Libraries
• This category encompasses those Java-based libraries that are
specific to Android development.
• Examples of libraries in this category include the application
framework libraries in addition to those that facilitate user
interface building, graphics drawing and database access.
 ANDROID – Architecture
• A summary of some key core Android libraries available to
the Android developer is as follows-
 android.app − Provides access to the application model
and is the cornerstone of all Android applications.
 android.content − Facilitates content access, publishing and
messaging between applications and application components.
 android.database − Used to access data published by content
providers and includes SQLite database management classes.
 android.opengl − A Java interface to the OpenGL E S 3D
graphics rendering API.
 android.os − Provides applications with access to standard
operating system services including messages, system
services and inter-process communication.
 ANDROID – Architecture
• android.text − Used to render and manipulate text on a device
display.
• android.view − The fundamental building blocks of application
user
interfaces.
• android.widget − A rich collection of pre-built user interface
components such as buttons, labels, list views, layout
managers, radio buttons etc.
• android.webkit − A set of classes intended to allow web-
browsing
capabilities to be built into applications.
• Having covered the Java-based core libraries in the Android
runtime, it is now time to turn our attention to the C/C++ based
libraries contained in this layer of the Android software stack.
 ANDROID – Architecture
Android Runtime
• Third section of the architecture and available on the second
layer from the bottom. This section provides a key component
called Dalvik Virtual Machine(till 5.0) later is ART which is a kind
of Java Virtual Machine specially designed and optimized for
Android.
• The Dalvik VM / ATR makes use of Linux core features like
memory management and multi-threading, which is intrinsic in
the Java language. The Dalvik / ART VM enables every Android
application to run in its own process, with its own instance of
the Dalvik virtual machine / ART.
• The Android runtime also provides a set of core libraries which
enable Android application developers to write Android
 ANDROID – Architecture
Application Framework
• The Application Framework layer provides many higher-level
services to applications in the form of Java classes.
• Application developers are allowed to make use of these
services in their applications.
• The Android framework includes the following key services −
 Activity Manager − Controls all aspects of the application
lifecycle and activity stack.
 Content Providers − Allows applications to publish and share
data with
other applications.
 Resource Manager − Provides access to non-code embedded
resources such as strings, color settings and user interface
 ANDROID – Architecture
 Notifications Manager − Allows applications to display
alerts and notifications to the user.
 View System − An extensible set of views used to create
application user interfaces.

Applications
• You will find all the Android application at the top layer. You will
write your
application to be installed on this layer only.
 Android - Application Components
• Application components are the essential building blocks of
an Android application.
• These components are loosely coupled by the application
manifest file AndroidManifest.xml that describes each
component of the application and how they interact.
Components Description

Activities They dictate the UI and handle the user interaction to the
Smartphone screen

Services They handle background processing associated with an

application.
Broadca They handle communication between Android OS and
applications.
st
Receiver
s
/ Components
 Additional Components
• There are additional components which will be used in the
construction of above mentioned entities, their logic, and wiring
between them.
• These components are –
Components Description
Fragments Represents a portion of user interface in an Activity.

Views UI elements that are drawn on-screen including buttons,

lists
forms etc.
Layouts View hierarchies that control screen format and
appearance of the views.

Intents Messages wiring components together.

Resources External elements, such as strings, constants and

drawable pictures.
Manifest Configuration file for the application.
Anatomy of Android Application
 Anatomy of Android Application
Folder / File Description
Java
This contains the .java source files for your project. By default, it
includes an MainActivity.java source file having an activity class
that runs when your app is launched using the app icon.

res/drawable-hdpi This is a directory for drawable objects that are designed for
high-density screens.

res/layout This is a directory for files that define your app's user interface.

res/values This is a directory for other various XML files that contain a
collection of resources, such as strings and colours definitions.
AndroidManifest.xml This is the manifest file which describes the fundamental
characteristics of the app and defines each of its components.
Build.gradle This is an auto generated file which contains compileSdkVersion,
buildToolsVersion, applicationId, minSdkVersion,
targetSdkVersion, versionCode and versionName
 The Main Activity File
• file which ultimately gets converted to a ART Android Run Time – The
main activity code is a Java file MainActivity.java. This is the actual
application successor of Dalvik VM) and runs your application. Following is
the default code generated by the application wizard for Hello World!
application −
package com.example.helloworld;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
public class MainActivity extends
AppCompatActivity {
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{ super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}
}
• Here, R.layout.activity_main refers to the activity_main.xml file
located in the res/layout folder.
• The onCreate() method is one of many methods that are figured when
 The Manifest File
• Whatever component you develop as a part of your application,
you must declare all its components in a manifest.xml which
resides at the root of the application project directory.
• This file works as an interface between Android OS and your
application, so if you do not declare your component in this file,
then it will not be considered by the OS.
• For example, a default manifest file will look like as following file
−
 The Manifest File
Following is the list of tags which you will use in your manifest file
to specify different Android application components −
• <activity>elements for activities

• <service> elements for services

• <receiver> elements for broadcast receivers

• <provider> elements for content providers

 The Strings File
• The strings.xml file is located in the res/values folder and it
contains all the text that your application uses. For
example, the names of buttons, labels, default text, and
similar types of strings go into this file.
• This file is responsible for their textual content. For example,
a default strings file will look like as following file −
<resources>
<string name="app_name">HelloWorld</string>
<string name="hello_world">Hello world!</string>
<string name="menu_settings">Settings</string>
<string
name="title_activity_main">MainActivity</string>
</resources>
 The Layout File
• The activity_main.xml is a layout file available in res/layout directory,
that is referenced by your application when building its interface and
is modified very frequently to change the layout of your application.
• For your "Hello World!" application, this file will have following content
related to default layout –
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:padding="@dimen/padding_medium"
android:text="@string/hello_world“
tools:context=".MainActivity" />
</RelativeLayout>
Organize resource in Android Studio
Directory Resource Type

anim/ XML files that define property animations.

They are saved in res/anim/ folder and
accessed from the R.anim class.
color/ XML files that define a state list of colors.
They are saved in res/color/ and accessed
from the R.color class
drawable/ Image files like .png, .jpg, .gif or XML files
that are compiled into bitmaps, state lists,
shapes, animation drawable. They are saved
in res/drawable/ and accessed from the
R.drawable class

layout/ XML files that define a user interface layout.

They are saved in res/layout/ and accessed
from the R.layout class

menu/ XML files that define application menus, such

as an Options Menu, Context Menu, or Sub
Menu. They are saved in res/menu/ and
accessed from the R.menu class.
 Organize resource in Android Studio
Directory Resource Type

raw/ Arbitrary files to save in their raw form. You need to call
Resources.openRawResource() with the resource ID, which is R.raw.filename to
open such raw files.
values/  arrays.xml for resource arrays, and accessed from the R.array class.
 integers.xml for resource integers, and accessed from the R.integer class.
 bools.xml for resource boolean, and accessed from the R.bool class.
 colors.xml for color values, and accessed from the R.color class.
 dimens.xml for dimension values, and accessed from the R.dimen class.
 strings.xml for string values, and accessed from the R.string class.
 styles.xml for styles, and accessed from the R.style class.

xml/ Arbitrary XML files that can be read at runtime by calling Resources.getXML().
You can save various configuration files here which will be used at run time.