What is Android?
Android is a powerful open source Linux-based operating system (OS) used especially for smartphones and tablets. It is one of the most widely used mobile operating systems (OS). It is a software stack that includes OS, middleware, and key applications. The Android Software Development Kit (SDK) provides the tools and application programming interface (API).
The main platform of Android is Java. It uses the Java library. And the applications are coded in Java, C++ and C (core). A single application that has more than 700,000 apps and more downloaded on the market. These apps are updated and many more are released daily.
Android history:
Android was developed by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google. The Open Handset Alliance includes nearly 86 hardware, software, and telecommunications companies. The initial developer of Android was Android Inc., which was later bought by Google in 2005. Google released the Android code as open source under the Apache license.
It was founded by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White in Paulo Alto, California, USA in October 2003.
The Android Open Source Project is also run by Google and is tasked with maintaining and developing Android. The main objective of is to create a successful product in the real world and improve the mobile experience for end users.
Components of the Android architecture:
The main components of the Android architecture are:
o Applications: a set of basic applications written in the Java programming language.
o Application Framework – An open source development that manages all the applications involved in it.
o Libraries: is a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components of the Android system.
o Android Run-time: All applications can run in their own process, using their own Dalvik Virtual Machine instance.
o Linux Kernel: Relies on Linux version 2.6 for core system administration, such as security, process management, memory management, and the network stack and controller model.
Android Features:
o Application Framework: allows the reuse and substitution of components.
o Dalvik virtual machine: optimized for mobile devices.
o Embedded Browser: Open source web kit engine.
o Optimized graphics: powered by 2D and 3D graphics.
o Sq Lite for data storage
or GSM technology
o Camera, GPS, Compass, etc.
o Media support
oBluetooth, EDGE, Wi-Fi, 3G.
Android version history:
The specialty of the Android app is its version. And they are created in alphabetical order. And all versions belong to a Dessert name. Each version has its own subversion and is released regularly. Subversions are released more or less in the same year in a constant period of different months.
The first release was in November 2007 and after that many updates have been made from its original operating system and each update fixes bugs and adds new features from the previous version.
Android versions:
The Android versions and the year they were released are:
1. Beta – November 5, 2007.
2. v1.0 – September 23, 2008.
3. v1.1 – February 9, 2009.
4. Magdalena V1.5 – April 30, 2009.
5. Donuts V1.6 – September 15, 2009.
6. Lightning V2.0 – October 26, 2009.
7. V2.2.x Fro-yo – May 20, 2010.
8. V2.3.x Gingerbread – December 6, 2010.
9. V3.x Honeycomb – February 22, 2011.
10. Ice Cream Sandwich V4.x – Oct 19, 2011.
Advantages of Android:
1. Multi-touch.
2. Multiprocessor.
3. Multi-threaded operating system.
4. Rich Internet access.
5. Open source platform.
6. Easy to manage and implement.
7. Easy to use.
8. Security enabled.
9. Support all image and video formats.