Dalvik Virtual Machine Register Based VM The language is designed by
Dan Bornstein, some cool features and nature of Apple Swift iOS
Programming Language he gave it a try with the initial compiler
implementations examples contributed from other Google engineers at its
Android mobile phone platform. The Dalvik virtual machine was named in
that way after Bornstein, a resident of the nearby village “Dalvík”, born on
”Eyjafjörður”.
What is Dalvik Virtual Machine?
Dalvik Virtual Machine (DVM) is the custom program introduced for
Android apps. It takes the Java code and creates an optimized version of
it in a file with .dex(extension) which is known as Dalvik executable. This
format allows the apps to run quickly with fewer resources, i.e. on mobile
phones and low-memory, slower devices. This is different from a typical
Java Virtual Machine (JVM), as it optimized especially for Android to run
apps that use less memory and are compatible with the millions of devices
running on various versions.
Simple Working of DVM
Java Source Code
The original development of Android apps is mostly done using Java
programming language that developers use to write the instructions
your app executes.
Compilation
We need to convert this textual Java code into form understandable by
computer. This is commonly referred to as compilation. This Java
bytecode is an executable version of your code.
Conversion to Dalvik Bytecode
The Java bytecode is transformed into a different format known as
Dalvik byte code. They use a tool called dx, to do this and make the
code run smoothly on Android devices.
Dalvik Virtual Machine (DVM)
Last, but not least the Dalvik bytecode is run on the Dalvik Virtual
Machine (DVM). DVM has the special ability to run the applications on
mobile devices which have limited capabilities of memory and battery.
Features of Dalvik Virtual Machine
Register-Based Architecture: Dalvik is a register-based virtual
machine unlike the traditional stack based one (like JVM). This helps
minimize overhead that would be incurred by constantly pushing and
popping values off the stack making execution faster, especially on low
memory mobile devices.
Optimized for Mobile Devices: It is an optimizing BSJ virtual machine
that was designed specifically to run on the Android operating system,
with low memory and power requirements. It virtualizes multiple apps
by running a separate instance of the VM for each application as it
does best in simultaneously handling many applications.
Dex Bytecode Execution: Dalvik uses. dex (Dalvik Executable) files—
these compile the source into a more compact bytecode in order to
make it better-suited for low-memory environments. We compile
multiple Java classes into a single. dex file so that it was just 63% of
the original size, meaning a small parse and load time on mobile
devices.
Just In Time (JIT) Compilation: Dalvik was released from Android 2.2
(Froyo) and later included a JIT compiler to translate the bytecode into
machine code directly at execution runtime, which could eventually
boost frequently executed codes performance.
Garbage Collection: The above code ran on the DALVIK which has
automatic garbage collection to make sure that apps will not consume
large amount of resources and thus there is no effect in system
stability.
Support for Multithreading: Dalvik is multithreading mobile machine
can have multiple threads at the same time for an application to work
on. This feature is one of the most required things when it comes to
mobile apps e.g., background process along with foreground user
tracking.
Advantages of DVM(Dalvik Virtual Machine)
DVM supports the Android operating system only.
In DVM executable is APK.
Execution is faster.
From Android 2.2 SDK Dalvik has it’s own JIT (Just In Time) compiler.
Applications are given their own instances.
Disadvantages of DVM(Dalvik Virtual Machine)
DVM supports only Android Operating System.
For DVM very few Re-Tools are available.
App Installation takes more time due to dex.
More internal storage is required.
Application of Dalvik Virtual Machine
Running Android Apps: It improves how apps run by using
processing power and less memory, ensuring smooth work.
Support for Multitasking: It allows multiple android apps to run at the
same time without interrupting each other sped , making multi tasking
smoother on mobile devices.
Memory Management: It manages memory more efficiently than older
system, making sure that apps can run well even on devices with
limited memory.
Conclusion
The Dalvik Virtual Machine was essential for the early Android phones.
DVM is very handy to build an android apps because it could be optimized
for mobile, take care of low-memory & handling the multiple app. In more
recent Android versions, DVM has been replaced by ART but it paved the
road on how apps get executed in an Android system.
