What is Android? What are the features of Android?

Q.4 What is Android? What are the features of Android? Explain the architecture of Android? [10]

Ans.

Android is an operating system that was founded in Palo Alto of California, U.S. by Andy Rubin, Rich miner, Nick sears and Chris White in 2003. Later Android Inc. was acquired by Google in 2005. It is based on Linux family of operating system. It is mainly designed for smart phones. It is written in C, C++, and java language. Most of the android app are developed in java programming language. Android operating system uses less memory to keep power consumption at a minimum, in contrast to desktop operating systems

Features of Android

-Integrated Browser
-Optimized Graphics
-Multi-touch
-Multitasking
-Bluetooth
-Streaming media support
-SQLite Database

Android operating system is the collection of software and can be divided in five sections.

- Linux kernel
- Libraries
- Android Runtime
- Application Framework
- Application

Linux kernel

It is available at the bottom of the Android software stack. It provides an abstraction between the device hardware and the upper layers. It provides the following functions in the Android system:

- Hardware Abstraction
- Memory Management
- Security Settings
- Power Management
- Support for Shared Libraries

Libraries

The next layer in the Android architecture includes Android’s native libraries. It is the collection of predefined API. User can directly reference these libraries while developing the apps.

Android Runtime

Android runtime includes the core java libraries and Dalvik VM. It responsible for running apps on Android devices.Dalvik VMis optimized for low memory requirements.

Application Framework

There are so many important components are available in this layer and Our applications directly interact with these components.
Important blocks of Application Framework:

- Activity Manager
- Content Providers
- Telephony Manager
- Location Manager
- Resource Manager

Application

All the user defined applications are installed on this layer(Top of the layer).User directly interacts directly with this layer. This layer also comprises many native applications such as web browser email applications, SMS client app, Contact manager etc.