Mobile Programming
Engr. Waqar Ahmed
MUET, Shaheed Z.A Bhutto Campus Khairpur Mir’s
Introducing Mobile Computing
• A technology that allows transmission of data, via a
computer, without having to be connected to a fixed
physical link .
• Mobile data communication is rapidly evolving
technology as it allows users to transmit data from
remote locations to other remote or fixed locations.
Applications of Mobile Computing
• Emergency services
• CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data)
• Credit card Verification
• Estate agents
• Location services
• Traffic information
• Entertainment, etc
Mobile Operating Systems
An operating system that operates a smartphone, tablet,
PDA, or other mobile device.
Android
Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, based on the Linux
kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smart
phones and tablets.
• The current Android version is 8.0 Oreo.
• The releases are nicknamed like Ginger Bread (2.3), Honeycomb (3.0), Ice Cream
Sandwich (4.0), Jelly Bean (4.1) and Kit Kat (4.4).
Android API Level
iOS
• iOS is from Apple Inc. It is closed source and built on open
source Darwin core OS.
• The Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and second-generatio
n Apple TV all use this operating system derived from Mac
OS X.
Sensors in a smart phones
Sensors growth in smartphones
Introduction to Android
• Open software platform for mobile development
• A complete stack – OS, Middleware, Applications
• An Open Handset Alliance (OHA) project
• Powered by Linux operating system
• Open source under the Apache 2 license
Development languages for Android
• Java
• Kotlin
• C/C++
• C#
• BASIC
• Corona
• PhoneGap
For further Studies
https://www.androidauthority.com/develop-android-apps-languages-learn-391008/
Android framework
HAL
Basics of Android Application
• In Android, mostly the applications are programmed in Java.
Following are the types of Android applications
Foreground Activity
• An application that’s only useful when it’s in the foreground
and is effectively suspended when it’s not visible.
• Games and map mashups are common examples.
Basics of Android Application
Background Service
• An application with limited interaction that spends most of its lifetime
hidden. Examples of this include call screening applications or SMS
auto-responders.
Intermittent Activity
• Expects some interactivity but does most of its work in the background.
• Often these applications will be set up and then run silently, notifying
users when appropriate.
• A common example would be a media player.
Components of Android Application
• There are six components that provide the building blocks
for Android applications:
1. Activities
2. Services
3. Content Providers
4. Intents
5. Broadcast Receivers
6. Notifications
Activities
• Its is the application’s presentation layer.
• Every screen in the application will be an extension of the
Activity class.
• Activities use Views to form graphical user interfaces that
display information and respond to user actions.
• But, they can:
– Be faceless
– Be in a floating window
– Return a value
Services
• The invisible workers of the application.
• Service components run invisibly, updating the data sources and
visible Activities and triggering Notifications.
• They’re used to perform regular processing that needs to continue
even when your application’s Activities aren’t active or visible.
E.g. music player, network download etc…
Content Providers
• A shareable data store.
• Content Providers are used to manage and share application databases
• They are the preferred way of sharing data across application
boundaries. This means that you can configure your own Content
Providers to permit access from other applications
• Enables sharing of data across applications
– E.g. address book, photo gallery
Intents
• Think of Intents as a verb and object; a description of what you want d
one
– E.g. VIEW, CALL, PLAY etc..
• System matches Intent with Activity that can best provide the service
• Using Intents, you can broadcast messages system-wide or to a target
Activity or Service, stating your intention to have an action performed
• The system will then determine the target(s) that will perform any acti
ons as appropriate.
Broadcast Receivers
• They are Intent broadcast consumers.
• By creating and registering a Broadcast receiver, your application
can listen for broadcast Intents that match specific filter criteria.
• Broadcast Receivers will automatically start your application to
respond to an incoming Intent, making them ideal for
event-driven applications.
Notification
• A user notification framework.
• Notifications let you signal users without stealing focus or
interrupting their current Activities.
• They are the preferred technique for getting a user’s attention
from within a Service or Broadcast Receiver.
