Learning Android Application Development - Day 1

Introduction to Android

Android is a set of software for mobile devices as we can take the following examples - computers, tablets, notebooks, smartphones, smart watches, setup boxes, electronic book reader, etc.

The Android commonly used to refer to the operating system, also we can say that Android is a complete software stack that contains an operating system based on Linux but specifically designed to run on mobile devices.

It also includes a complete application framework so that we can create or deploy our own custom apps.

History of Android

Initially, ANDY RUBIN founded Android incorporation in polo alto, California, United States in October 2003. On August 17, 2005, Google acquired Android incorporation, since then it is in the subsidiary of GOOGLE Incorporation.

Versions of Android

The versions of Android are interesting to know. The names of android versions ranges from A to M currently and having names on delicious desert described in the following table:

Version Name	Code name	API Level	Released
ANDROID 1.0	-	-	September 2008
ANDROID 1.1	-	-	February 2009
ANDROID 1.5	Cupcake	3	April 2009
ANDROID 1.6	Donut	4	September 2009
ANDROID 2.1	Eclair	7	October 2009
ANDROID 2.2	Froyo	8	May 2009
ANDROID 2.3	Gingerbread	9 and 10	December 2010
ANDROID 3.1,3.3	Honeycomb	12 and 13	February 2011
ANDROID 4.0	Ice Cream Sandwitch	15	October 2011
ANDROID 4.1,4.2,4.3	Jelly Beans	16 , 17 and 18	2011 – 13
ANDROID 4.4	Kitkat	19	October 2013
ANDROID 5.0	Lollipop	21	-

Basic Building Blocks of Android

In Android application development we have these basic building blocks for coding of android application.

• Activity
• Intent
• Content Provider
• Service
• Broadcast Receiver
• Service

Categories of android applications

There are many kinds of applications available in online market, the categories are defined here:

• Entertainment
• Tools
• Communication
• Music and Audio
• Social apps
• Media and Video
• Travel and Local
• Locating etc

Activity Life Cycle