Android Concepts
What is Android
Android is a software product for mobile devices that has three major parts:
- operating system
- middleware
- key applications
Android Architecture
Here are the major components based on this [source]
Key principles
1. Linux Kernel - proven driver model, memory and process management, etc. (a core service of a reliable operating system)
2. Libraries (written in C/C++)
Component | Responsability |
---|---|
Surface Manager | composing drawing surface onto the screen |
ES & SGL | core of graphics libraries |
Media Framework | core media: mpeg, mp3, all video formats, etc. |
FreeType | an engine for rendering fonts |
SQLite | core of data storage |
WebKit | an open source web browser engine |
SSL | security socket layer |
3. Android Runtime 3.1 Core Libraries written in JAVA such as: utils, collection, i/o, etc. 3.2 Dalvik Virtual Machine runs dex files (bytecodes efficient for small processors)
4.