January 2014
Beginner to intermediate
284 pages
6h 51m
English
Content preview from Learning Android, 2nd Edition
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Chapter 3. The Stack
This chapter offers a 9,000-foot overview of the Android platform. Although you’re concerned primarily with writing Android applications, understanding the layout of the system will help you understand what you can or cannot easily do with Android.
By the end of this chapter, you’ll understand how the whole system works, at least from a high level. You should be able to identify each of the main layers of the platform and have a general understanding of its purpose.
Stack Overview
The Android operating system is like a cake consisting of various layers. Each layer has its own characteristics and purpose—but the layers are not always cleanly separated and often seep into one another.
As you read through this chapter, keep in mind that we are concerned only with the big picture of the entire system and will get into the nitty-gritty details later on. Figure 3-1 shows the parts of the Android stack.
Linux
Android is built on top of the Linux kernel. Linux is a great operating system, and is the poster child of open source. Its kernel has been hardened and tightened over the years by many engineers continually improving it. Many users depend on Linux every day (often unknowingly).
There are many good reasons for choosing Linux as the base of the Android stack. Some of the main ones are its portability, security, and features:
Figure 3-1. Android stack
- Portability
- Linux is ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
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I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.