Android Studio

Understanding the Environment and related concepts

Outline
➔ Android OS architecture
➔ The android environment and concepts
Android OS architecture
● Android OS is a stack of software components roughly divided into 4
sections
○ Applications
○ Applications framework
○ Libraries
○ Linux Kernel
The Applications layer
• The Applications layer is where user-facing applications reside,
such as social media apps, games, and productivity tools.
The Application Framework
• The Application Framework layer provides a set of Java-based APIs
that allow developers to build applications and access
various system services.
The Libraries layer
• The Libraries layer includes essential libraries that provide
additional functionalities to Android applications, such as
graphics rendering, database management, and network
communication.
The Linux Kernel
• The Linux Kernel, which provides low-level hardware
abstraction, drivers, and security features.
• The Linux Kernel interacts directly with the device's hardware,
managing processes, memory, and device drivers.
ART (Android Runtime)
● ART is the runtime environment used by Android to execute
applications.
● It replaced the earlier Dalvik runtime in Android 4.4 and higher
versions.

● ART is responsible for converting the application's bytecode into

machine code that can be directly executed by the device's
processor.

● It also handles memory management, garbage collection, and

other runtime tasks.
HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer)

● Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) acts as an interface between

the Android operating system and the device's hardware
components.

● Its primary purpose is to provide a standardized set of APIs that

allow the Android framework to communicate with and control
hardware devices.

● The HAL abstracts the hardware details, making it easier for

developers and manufacturers to write hardware-independent code
that can work across various Android devices.
Key android environment
and concepts
Top level components
● 4 top level components provide the ability to do everything
○ Activity
■ Can be a single screen of an app, handles UI and events
○ Service
■ Works in the background, has no UI
○ Content provider
■ Responsible to share data for apps
○ Broadcast receiver
■ Responds to system wide events in real time
Activity
● It presents the content users interact with on the screen
● Represents something an application can do
● An application can have more than 1 activities
Android views
● Views occupy rectangular area on the screen
● Responsible for drawing and event handling
● Can display images , text, etc
● Combination of views forms the design interface
Android Layout files
● Each android application layout is represented by an XML file
● The XML file serves as a blueprint for the interface of an application
● Views can also be created using java or kotlin
● Jetpack compose – can also be used to create user interfaces using
kotlin code only
XML
● Stands for Extended markup language
● Is used to develop apps user interface
● The whole structure is built on tags
HTML vs XML

HTML XML

● Designed to display data ● Designed to carry data with

with focus on how data focus on what data is
looks ● Tags are not predefined
● Tags are predefined
XML syntax
● Xml document must have a root element
<root>
<child>
<subchild> ….. </subchild>
</child>
</root>
Android Virtual Device ( AVD )Manager
● AVD manager optimizes android apps for different devices
● Helps to test apps
● Lets us create and configure virtual devices
● Running virtual device requires – virtualization tool for hardware
acceleration to be enabled i.e. Hyper-V
○ Windows 10 is preloaded with this feature
● If Hyper-V is not enabled – HAXM hardware acceleration tool will be
downloaded together with an Emulator
Emulator
● It is a computer program that imitates real device
● To use it – you need to download it first
● Used for testing our app
● Requires high computing resources
○ Disk space
○ RAM
● Examples
○ Bluestacks
○ [Link]
Gradle
● A.k.a android build system
● Android applications might contain hundreds or thousands of files
and resources
● These files need to be packed as a single file in a way android
device can understand, this is where Gradle comes in.
● Gradle packages everything together in a compressed file
known as APK, android package kit.
● It simplifies the process of managing complex dependencies and
automates tasks such as compiling source code, packaging
resources, and generating the final APK.
R class
● The "R" class is an automatically generated class that acts as a
resource manager in Android projects.
● It contains references to various types of resources, such as
layouts, strings, colors, drawables, dimensions, and more.
● These resources are typically defined in XML files within the
project's "res" directory.
● When you build an Android project, the Android build system
generates the "R" class based on the resources you have
defined.
Android Studio project structure
● .gradle
○ Contains configurations and files used for project building
○ Auto generated
● .idea
○ Contains metadata of project
● App
○ Contains project source code
● Gradle( androids build system )
○ .gitignore -- specify sensitive files and folders
○ build-gradle -- specify and manage configuration options
○ gradlew -- created whenever a new feature is required
○ local-properties -- local configuration info
○ [Link] -- handles settings for projects and modules
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● MainActivity
○ Generated when a project is created
○ Activity class contains a layout
○ onCreate() function must be in your activity class to run an android app
Res folder
● Contains the following
○ Drawable
○ Mipmap
○ Layout
○ values
● Both drawable and mipmap store image assets
● Mipmap
○ renders high quality images across different devices
○ It is an upgrade and preferable
○ Images will not become blurry
○ Uses webp images file format ( extension )
Android Manifest
● Used as configuration file to define what an app requires to run
● Helps to define permissions
● e.g sendSMS
<uses-permission android-name=“[Link].SEND_SMS”>
Layout folder
● Used to manage UI
● Contains the xml files of your app
Layout inflation process
● During project creation, android studio associates the layout file
(xml) with the MainActivity (java) object.
● The two are associated by, a method called – setContentView( )
● This complex method accepts the layout resource file identifier ,
generates the views designed within , and presents them on screen
– a process known as layout inflation.
Android Logcat
● Adding messages to a log can be a
useful way of checking that your code
works the way you want.
● Each message is composed of a
String tag you use to identify the
source of the message, and the
message itself.
Android SDK version
● The minimum required sdk is the lowest version your app will
support.
● Your app will run on devices with this level API or higher.
Dimensions
● Defined in XML
● Specified with a number followed by a unit of measure
● Example : 5sp, 15dp, 12px
● The following unit of measure are supported in android
○ dp (density independent pixel) – for margin, padding, etc.
○ sp (space independent pixel) – for font size
○ pt (point)
○ px (pixel)
○ mm (milimmeter)
○ in (inch)
Android densities
● There are a lot of Android devices with different sizes and
proportions and each screen has its density.
● Android densities can be:
○ ldpi (low) ~120dpi
○ mdpi (medium) ~160dpi
○ hdpi (high) ~240dpi
○ xhdpi (extra-high) ~320dpi
○ xxhdpi (extra-extra-high) ~480dpi
○ xxxhdpi (extra-extra-extra-high) ~640dpi
Android densities
● DPI stands for dots per inch.
● Thanks to dp the UI elements look uniform on screens with different
densities.
…cont’d
Layouts
● Relative Layouts
○ is a layout which arranges views/widgets/viewGroup according
to the position of other views/widgets/viewGroups i.e the new
views are placed relative to the already existing views
○ Most commonly used layout type
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Linear Layout
● Arranges elements either in
○ Horizontal orientation (default) - Left to Right
○ Vertical orientation – Top to Bottom
Exercise – Match A to B
Column A Column B
● Converts bytecode to 0’s and 1’s ● ART
● Interface b/n Android OS and the android ● HAL
hardware ● Gradle
● Loading libraries, building APK
● R class
● Auto generated resource manager
●
● Mipmap
Contains App launcher icons
● Glues layout and java file together ● setContentView( )
● Arranges views/view groups left to right ● Linear Layout
or top to bottom ● Relative Layout
● Single screen of an App ● Android Manifest
● Lists Application Permissions ● Activity / ActivityCompat
● Contains metadata of android project
● The idea folder