Linux Community Magazine

In recent years, the mobile and internet technologies have shown prominent growth across the globe. And therefore, in order to fulfill variety of needs at both individual and enterprise level the demand of mobile applications is increasing day by day. At present, mobile application development has become one of the most prominent services that are being offered by mobile apps development companies. Since its inception, Android has shown tremendous growth and has been considered one of the most prominent technology platforms available for mobile apps development. In general terms, Android is an open source operating system that is based upon Linux and has been developed by Google and Open Handset Alliance (a pool of 84 software, hardware and telecommunication companies). The Android is based upon Linux Kernel, middleware, libraries and APIs that are written in C programming language. And, the application software runs on application framework that includes Java compatible l ibraries that are based upon Apache Harmony. Generally applications are developed with Java language using Android SDK (Software Development Kit) Developers write code in a customized version of Java and can develop third party applications that can be run on Android based mobile phone / smart-phone or devises. Apart from this, other mobile apps development tools are also available including Native Development Kit or some extensions in C or C++. Android provides variety of features and benefits for Android application development. It has been considered one of the most flexible development platforms used for mobile apps development. Since, it is an open source mobile platform that is based upon Linux therefore; it provides wide scope of customization of mobile apps according to requirement. It consists of large collection of inbuilt libraries including 2D graphics library, 3D graphics library, VGA and supports all major audio, video and still media formats in order to develo p handset layouts and rich applications. It provides various tools that are inbuilt and help in running, debugging and testing various types of applications. It supports all major internet and data connectivity platforms including Bluetooth, GSM, EDGE, IDEN, Wi-Fi etc. A lightweight database named, SQLite is used for data storage and restoration. Because it provides a flexible and multitasking environment for development therefore, developers can have more control over application's appearance. Further to this, it doesn't differentiate the third-party applications and phone's core applications and therefore it provides wider scope of development. The Android operating system could be used on various devices such as mobile phones, smart-phones, net-books, tablet computers etc. In order to have wider reach to its users, there is an online store is available named Android Market developed by Google through which, one can browse and download various applications published by man y third-party developers. With help of Android mobile apps development, applications could be developed for many verticals of different needs ranging from business, entertainment and gaming , finance, marketing and advertising, social networking, healthcare, utility, travel and lifestyle, multimedia, CRM etc. targeting all major industries.

The increasing penetration of multi-featured smart-phones and different types of individual and business requirements are few factors that can be considered as a driving force for Android based application development. In coming days, certainly the offshore Android apps development is going to see much higher growth with more advancement in features and technology.