Introduction to Android SDK

Blackberry and iPhone are smart phones that have high-volume mobile platforms. These two take care of the opposite ends of the spectrum of smart phones. Blackberry is a rock-solid device for the enterprise and corporate users, but as a consumer device it lacks the "wow" factor. iPhone takes over from there and addresses the issue with its ease of use and the availability of thousands of applications that cater to many specific user needs. Android is a young platform that is used as a business device and as a fun entertainment device.

Android is a complete operating system based on the Linux Kernel 2.6. Initially it was made for touch screen smart phones, but was later adapted for tablet computers and other handheld devices. It was highly favored for its rich functional support and was also recognized to have a great potential to extend beyond the mobile market. Its vigorous application development and its open source nature are exactly the reason why it is highly in-demand. Android smart phones are so popular that many businesses prefer to keep in touch with their customers through Android applications.

This software development kit was launched by Google so that third parties would be able to participate in designing and developing applications and software for the Android platform.

Graphic and user interface builders help to develop rich Android applications. Android SDK development offers visual refactoring, which lets programmers extract layouts and styles for inclusion, and convert them as needed for the application. Better/Richer graphics are also achievable thanks to its 2D and 3D graphics support. Additionally developers/programmers (I suggest using "programmers" because it is what was used previously) can simulate the screen size of different Android devices to check the graphic quality and performance, to make the application more appealing.

Android SDK development allows the developer hardware emulation during the design and development process, including camera, sensors, multi-touch and other hardware features. This emulation allows the developer to check the functionality of the application and to maximize the hardware capabilities of the device.

Google ensures that the Android SDK development offers a complete testing and debugging environment. This reduces the time for uploading the application on an Android device and testing it. The SDK has on-device debugging, testing and profiling feature that can deploy the application on an Android environment and test its functionality.

The AndroidSDK offers great support for building visually-appealing and bug-free applications. This cuts down the cost and time required for building functional applications.