Android Glossary

Here are some Android terms (some even with definitions!!)

See also the developer glossary at: http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/glossary.html

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A

 * adb : Android Debug
 * ADP1 : Android Developer Phone 1
 * Android : A robot resembling a human being - the name of the operating system produced by Google for mobile phones. Apparently, Andy Rubin, one of the original founders of Android, Inc. loves robots.
 * Android, Inc. : A company founded by Andy Rubin and others to create a mobile phone operating system. Android, Inc. was acquired by Google in 2005.
 * ASE : Android Scripting Environment

B

 * Binder : An Interprocess Communication (IPC) mechanism. See http://cs736-android.pbworks.com/IPC-Binder and http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers/msg/dc0e0e872de9b0d2
 * Bionic : small C library used in Android devices
 * Bootchart : A mechanism to create visual charts of a Linux boot sequence, including the timing of process start and execution.

C,D

 * Cupcake : The code name for Android version 1.5.
 * Dalvik : Virtual Machine in which Android applications are run. This VM executes Dalvik bytecode, which is compiled from programs written in the Java language.  Note that the Dalvik VM is not a Java VM (JVM).
 * Every Android application runs in its own process, with its own instance of the Dalvik virtual machine. Dalvik has been written so that a device can run multiple VMs efficiently. The Dalvik VM executes files in the Dalvik Executable (.dex) format which is optimized for minimal memory footprint. The VM is register-based, and runs classes compiled by a Java language compiler that have been transformed into the .dex format by the included "dx" tool.
 * Every Android application runs in its own process, with its own instance of the Dalvik virtual machine. Dalvik has been written so that a device can run multiple VMs efficiently. The Dalvik VM executes files in the Dalvik Executable (.dex) format which is optimized for minimal memory footprint. The VM is register-based, and runs classes compiled by a Java language compiler that have been transformed into the .dex format by the included "dx" tool.


 * Dream : Code name for the mobile phone hardware publicly called the t-Mobile G1, in the United States.

F, G

 * fastboot : a program which communicates with the developer firmware, and which is capable of loading new software on the ADP1 phone (including re-writing the flash partitions on the device).
 * FreeType : An open-source set of fonts and font system
 * G1 : The name of the first Android-based mobile phone, from t-Mobile.
 * Goldfish : The name of a virtual ARM platform provided by the emulator.
 * Goldfish executes ARM926T instructions and has hooks for input and output -- such as reading key presses from or displaying video output in the emulator. There is a "goldfish" configuration file for compiling the Linux kernel to run with this emulated platform.
 * Goldfish executes ARM926T instructions and has hooks for input and output -- such as reading key presses from or displaying video output in the emulator. There is a "goldfish" configuration file for compiling the Linux kernel to run with this emulated platform.


 * Google : A large web search company, and primary developer of Android

I

 * init : the first user-space program run in the Android system
 * Intent : A facility to send messages between different Android components.  A message is conveyed using an Intent object, which is a data structure holding a description of an operation to be performed, or of something that has happened and is being announced.

J

 * Java : Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun, and used to develop Android applications.
 * It is important to note that while the Java language is used for Android applications, the Java bytecode and Java virtual machine are not. for more information, see the entry for Dalvik.
 * It is important to note that while the Java language is used for Android applications, the Java bytecode and Java virtual machine are not. for more information, see the entry for Dalvik.


 * JDK : Java Development Kit

L, M

 * Linux : An open source operating system kernel, developed originally by Linus Torvalds, but over time by many thousands of developers worldwide.
 * Live-android : A project to create an Android live-CD, for running Android on generic x86 platforms.
 * MSM : ???

O

 * OpenGL ES : 3D graphics system and API for Android applications

S

 * Saphire
 * SGL : 2D graphics layer for Android applications
 * SQLite : A powerful and lightweight relational database engine used by the Android system components, and available to all Android applications.

T

 * Trout : ARM linux kernel machine ID for the HTC Dream hardware (used in the t-Mobile G1 and the ADP1)
 * See http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/developer/machines/list.php?id=1440
 * See http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/developer/machines/list.php?id=1440

W

 * wakelocks : A kernel mechanism for Android power management. When a thread holds a wakelock, the kernel will refrain from entering a low-power state.

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