I really like the approach of this course. It first teaches you Java which is highly important for designing apps in Android. Next, the instructor focuses on the Android SDK to teach you how to build beautiful applications for smartphones. As the course title indicates, it is the complete guide.
The Android platform is increasingly popular with developers, and a dominant force in the global smartphone market. As more businesses develop mobile apps for customer engagement, Android development skills are likely to stay in high demand.
Android development is a software creation process that focuses on applications, better known as apps, that are compatible with devices running the Android operating system (OS). Because Android is an open-source project, developers have easy access to the Android software development kit (SDK). Many use this kit in conjunction with Kotlin, Java, and C++ programming languages to make their apps. The Android SDK tools compile your code along with any data and resource files into an APK, or Android package, which is an archive file that uses an .apk suffix. One APK file contains all Android 11 app contents used by devices to install your app. When the app is complete and ready for release, Android developers can upload their apps to the Google Play Store for users to download.
Chances are, you’ve heard of Android many times. You may even have an Android smartphone, tablet, watch, or TV. But what is Android? Android is a mobile operating system (OS) that was designed and developed by Google. The Android OS is Linux kernel-based. So, what’s “Linux kernel,” and why is that such an essential detail about Android Development?
In a nutshell, Linux kernel is an OS, well, sort of — it’s partially an OS. More like a small part of an OS, but an important one. The Linux kernel is the layer responsible for interfacing with the device’s hardware and managing the device’s CPU and memory. The Android OS is Linux kernel-based because the Linux kernel allows for a more open and customizable OS, which is what Android promotes — any device manufacturer can take the Android OS and make it their own.
Imagine how bad it would be if, say, resources from application A read information from another application’s files and vice versa with no constraints — malicious, insecure interactions would take hold and bring the whole system to a halt.
The sharing of information (data) between applications is an essential part of building inter-connected applications, so the android OS requires developers to set permissions that users must grant to do certain things. For example, for an application to access the phone’s File System (internal files),the user must give access first. This means the app developer must let the user know, in advance, what the app they are installing wants to access. For example, when a user installs an android app that needs to access the photo gallery or the phone’s camera, the app will ask for permission to access the gallery or the camera. The app user has the power to either grant or deny permission. App permissions in Android ensure the user’s protection from malware and software viruses
