Java is a very powerful language and is getting even more power with development of Android Applications. Technology is growing rapidly, so is the entire world. Mobile phone technology has taken control over the world.
If we look back at the beginning of the manufacturing of the mobile phones, we would see the mobile phones that had the feature of simply making phone calls, from then to now, we not only can make phone calls but also have innumerable features such as Music Player, Television, Web browser, Camera and what not. Mobile phones are all in one packages nowadays.
Also Read:- Use of Java in Software Development
Especially the Android based smartphones are gaining popularity these days as it provides flexibility for customization. In contrast to Apple’s iOS or any other operating system for mobile applications, Google’s Android offers exceptional user experience for applications.
The Android development kit contains its own set of key applications and hardware and is open-source Linux-based operation system. Java is the platform that is used for developing Android Application.Therefore, Java library is used and coding for applications is done in Java, C, and C++ programming language. But, Java is the most widely used language for developing Android Applications.
What is Android?
Android is not only an operating system but also a software package i.e. it has its own set of key applications and middleware. Android is an open source and Linux-based operating system. Android is one of the most widely used operating system for mobile phones.
Android was initially founded by Andy Rubinin Palo Alto, California, United States in October, 2003. After which, Google acquired Android in August, 2005. Then, Google along with other companies like Motorola, Samsung, etc. formed an Open Handset Alliance (OHA) and Android was then acquired by Open Handset Alliance (OHA) which made the first ever Android based smartphone.
The first commercial version of Android was 1.0 which was released in September 2008.
Google announced the Android version 4.1 Jelly Beanon June 27, 2012. Jelly Bean was an incremental update, with the primary goal of enhancing functionality and performance eventually improving the user interface.
Android Applications can easily be downloaded and installed on an Android based smartphone. Android comes with exceptional user interface with touch inputs such as tapping, pinching, reverse pinching and swiping. Android runs on both GSM and CDMA. Android also supports Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, SMS messaging, MMS, etc.
Why is Java preferred as a programming language for developing Android Applications?
There are innumerable reasons as to why Java is used for developing Android Applications. The major characteristics of the language has played an important role in its success for the development of Android Applications, including the following components:
- Java is platform independent.
The source code i.e. the .java file is compiled and converted into bytecode (highly optimized set of instructions). The bytecode can be run on any machine which has Java Virtual machine installed on it. Java Virtual Machine converts the bytecode into code that is computer hardware runnable.
Android runs on variousdifferent hardware platforms. Compilation and optimization of the native code would be required to for each of the platforms but with Java it can be easily.Therefore, a reason why Java is used for developing Android Applications.
2. Java is well-known.
Java is well-known by most of the developers. Proficiency in Java is already acquired by most of the developers. Developers use Java for developing Android Applications because they already know and they do not have to learn a new language for developing Android Applications.
3. Java is Robust.
Java is said to be robust because it contains no references to external data i.e. it does not has any explicit pointers. While the conventional languages like C++ and a few others contain pointers.
This feature of Java makes sure that none of the instructions stores address of any data storage in another data storage or the operating system itself otherwise the program or the operating system would crash or terminate abruptly.
The integrity of each object is ensured by the Java Virtual Machine which is why Java is used for developing Android Applications.
4. Java is Object-Oriented.
Creating an object of a class is creating an instance of a class. Java is Object-oriented i.e. it creates instances of each class which are copies of the class. The advantage of creating objects is multiple instances of the same code are created and changes are made to that object without affecting the main code. This is a very important feature for Java being used for developing Android Applications.
5. Java is easy to learn.
Java is easy to learn because it removes less-used and confusing features such as operator overloading, explicit pointers, etc. Also, Java has a syntax similar to C++ and is relatively easy to learn.
6. Java is Secure.
Java provides high security because of its outstanding exception handling mechanism. Exception handling mechanism of Java is the best. Majority of errors are caught in Java. Errors like division by zero cannot be handled by mother programming languages such as C/C++.
A simple error like this makes the entire system down if C/C++ is used; this is easily handled in Java. Java saves the native code from risks such as bad pointers, memory leaks, etc. thus, an Android Application developed for Java will be highly secured. Hence, making Java suitable for developing Android Applications.
7. Java is easy to write.
Java is easy and simpler to write. When a Java program will be compared to a program written in C++, the Java program will be shorter. An easily written language will always be preferred for developing Android Application which has a great demand in todays’ world.
8. Use of Java ME.
Majority of the smartphones already use Java ME and Android Applications are developed for running on smartphones. Therefore Java is preferable for developing Android Applications.
9. Java supports open-source.
Java’s huge support for open-source with several librariesand tools availablemaking developers’ life easier. Android Applications are available open source for downloading and installing them. Hence, this is why Java is used for developing Android Applications.
Java is the only language recommended for developing Android Applications because of its exceptional features. Java provides libraries and development tools which are proven highly beneficial for developing Android Application.