Android in Action - Questions

[Raghavan Muthu]

Hello Authors,

Welcoming you to the JavaRanch BookPromo.

I have few questions .

1. As it was given in the Manning website, knowledge in Java is helpful. It means the enterprise edition of Java. Right?

2. Are there any testing frameworks for Android?

3. How easy it is to plut an android application across mobile phones? Is there anything else I need to do to glue the application across the gadgets? Like a configuration file etc., Here in the app servers we do have a application server specific config files like jboss.xml, application.xml for sun one app server.

4. How do you measure the performance of an Android application?

5. Are there any scripting languages compliant to Android? Can Javascript or JavaFx be used? As it says, Java knowledge will be helpful for Android.

6. How do I differentiate Android with Java ME? Is it just a technology/framework running on top of Java ME?

Thanks in advance.

[Dimitrios Chatzidimitriou]

Just one question..


How easy is to write code for Android if you are not experienced enough in programing?

Thank you!

[Ulf Dittmer]

As it was given in the Manning website, knowledge in Java is helpful. It means the enterprise edition of Java. Right?

No. Android is based on Java SE 5 with a few libraries added (like HttpClient and the Android GUI toolkit) and a few libraries removed (like AWT and Swing).

Is there anything else I need to do to glue the application across the gadgets? Like a configuration file etc.,

An app consists of a single .apk file that is deployed on all devices. It contains all the resources necessary to work on differently enabled devices (like different screen sizes, landscape/portrait screens etc.). Differentiation happens by feature, not by device maker or model.

How do you measure the performance of an Android application?

The same way you'd do it for any other application. Of course, it depends on what -exactly- you mean by "performance".

Are there any scripting languages compliant to Android? Can Javascript or JavaFx be used?

Check this out: http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/. JavaFX is tied on Swing and thus won't work.

How do I differentiate Android with Java ME? Is it just a technology/framework running on top of Java ME?

Android is independent of JME. JME apps won't run on Android devices and vice versa.

[Raghavan Muthu]

Thanks for the nice and crisp answers Ulf!

I shall look at the URL you had pointed and get back for any clarifications!