Essential components of Android SDK and Android Apps

The Android OS is based on the open-source tech and its source code was released under the Apache license. It is one of the widely used OS and is currently running on the mobile devices manufactured by Samsung, Sony, Blackberry, Motorola, Xiaomi, One Plus, Google etc. Built upon the Linux Kernal, the primary design goals of the Android platform is to stay fully-functional, maintain the open-source neutrality and develop rapidly.

What Is Android SDK? Why Is It Needed?

It is a software development kit (SDK) is used for Mobile application development process. It contains necessary components that help in building Android applications. It comes as a part of the Android Studio and also includes several sample codes that help both amateur and professional app developer while coding an app. Along with that it also has an emulator that allows you to run the Android app.

The Android Studio also comes with an Android Virtual Device manager that allows the developers to test run application with any version of Android. By merging the Android SDK and Gradle tool, the developers can quickly build, compile and pack Android apps. For debugging Android applications, you can take advantage of the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) tool that enables you to connect to any virtual or real Android device.

Compatible IDEs

When it comes to Android application development it's good to have a basic knowledge of the JAVA programming language. If you wish to create an Android SDK, you can also take advantage of the Android Studio or even the JAVA IDE such as an Eclipse. The Android Studio is a popular IDE developed by Google for developing applications that are targeted at the Android platform.

The Android SDK Manager

Once you are done installing the Android Studio, you can invoke the Android SDK Manager from Tools-> Android -> SDK Manager. You can also run the Android SDK Manager by simply double-clicking on the SDKManager.exe file which is in the Android SDK Installation folder. With the help of the Android SDK, Manager the developer can install and delete packages for the particular Android version.

Given below is the list of the essential packages that come with the Android SDK:

SDK Tools

SDK Platform Tools

SDK Platform

System Image

SDK Samples

Components of an Android Application

Every Android app comprises of a collection of Android components, JAVA source and resource files that can be deployed in a single unit. The components of an Android application include the following:

Application: You can have one app class in your Android app that gets instantiated before any other component of an app gets instantiated.

Activity: It can be defined as the visual representation of your Android app.

Service: Services are used to handle background processing.

Receiver (also called Broadcast receiver): This part handles the communication between Android OS and the apps.

Content provider: It offers a structured interface to the application's data. As an example, you can have a content provider providing an interface to accessing the data stored in the SQLLite database.

Wrapping Up

It's good to have knowledge of app development, but in case you are not familiar with the technicalities then make sure you hire the services of an experienced and skilled developer who get things done on your behalf.