Introduction of How Android Works for Java Programmers

A constant increase is noted in the number of people using their mobile devices to access the web. In addition to gathering information and data from various online sources, people also use mobile devices to carry out various types of regular and financial transactions. At the same time, the mobile devices are widely used to play games, listen to music, watch videos, and use apps. In comparison to other mobile operating system, Android is more popular among both users and mobile application developers. The huge popularity of the mobile platform has further made application development for the mobile platform one of the most popular trends in Java programming.

Most developers, with prior knowledge and experience in Java, are showing interest in developing Android apps. Some of these programmers also keenly follow the latest trends in smartphone application development to impress clients by building a hugely popular interface. If you have experience in writing Java programmers, you can avail several benefits by learning Android for Java programmers. Along with building mobile applications to target millions of users, you will get the opportunity to implement your innovative ideas and creativity. Also, the similarity between Android and Java APIs make it easier for you to acquire new programming skills without putting any extra time and effort.

Why a Java Programmer can Easily Switch to Android Programming?

Easy to Understand the Android API: If you are familiar with Java API, it will be easier for you to learn how Android works. The Android API is very much similar to the Java API. But it does not support all classes available in the J2SE SDK. It only supports some of the key and critical Java classes. Google has further provided a Java API to make it easier for programmers to write code. The API is also effective in compiling the code into class files. So you only need to learn a set of new features and classes to switch to Android programming.

Tutorials to Learn Android SDK: When a Java programmer decides to build Android apps, it becomes essential to understand how to install the Android SDK, and set up the initial environment to develop applications. The experienced developers and beginners have options to choose from a variety of tutorials. Along with designing the app, the tutorials can further help them to learn how to incorporate advanced features like location service, social media and Google maps. Once you decide the features and functionality of the app, you can refer to the tutorials to implement the ideas perfectly to boost user experience.

Option to Use Same Development Tools: Often Java programmers use customized tools to optimize user experience without writing lengthy code. But some mobile operating systems like iOS do not allow programmers to use the existing tools. A programmer is required to learn the iOS SDK and Objective C to start building applications for Apple devices. On the other hand, a Java programmer can use the same tools for Android programming. For instance, a programmer has option to build Android apps by using IDE like Eclipse. So you can develop robust smartphone apps at a rapid pace using the tools you are familiar with.

Enhance the Compatibility of Your Web Applications: The popularity of a web application, nowadays, depends on its compatibility with different operating systems, browsers and devices. A constant increase is also noted in the number of users accessing the websites and web applications on their Android devices. The clients also require the website developers to make the website compatible with popular mobile operating systems. As Java is being used widely to build websites, it will be easier for developers to make the applications compatible with Android. Further, they can easily integrate innovative features to make the website popular among millions of Android device users.

Each Java programmer can switch to Android programming to avail a number of benefits. Along with retaining the clients, he can develop an application to reach millions of users. Also, a developer has option to use customized Java frameworks to build Android apps. The frameworks enable android widget development teams to build robust mobile applications without writing longer lines of Java Code.

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The Best 12 Healthcare Android apps

The Google Play Store comes up with a plethora of medical apps. While some of these are immensely beneficial for medical students, some others are helpful for all, like the app which can guide users on the procedure of first aid. Here we bring to you 12 of the most useful Healthcare Android apps catering to different medical sectors.

1. ICE or In Case of Emergency: This is a very beneficial app which contains valuable information that can be used by the first responders and medical staff when they are dealing with an emergency condition related to you. Some of the crucial information that this app contains are the list of the people who can be called during an emergency, names and numbers of doctors, insurance information, medical conditions, allergies and medications.

2. Visual Anatomy Free: This acts as a reference and education tool, enabling the reader to comprehend the bones, muscles, organs and different systems of the human body. The app consists of high-resolution photos as well as feature points. Every feature comes with its own description and label. This app also constitutes a number of multiple choice quizzes and queries.

3. Mosquito Repellant: This is a unique app that works on the principle that ultrasound may repel insects such as mosquitoes. This app is capable of generating ultrasound of high frequency that repels mosquitoes and hence acts as a protection against mosquito bites. Mosquitoes stay away from some ultrasound frequencies and thus you will be able to do away with mosquitoes without using any kind of mosquito coils or other such environment pollutants.

4. First Aid: This app is immensely useful and features a host of accurate procedures, which users can themselves apply in a demanding situation or for providing guidance and support to others. It incorporates videos, illustrations and short descriptions delineating the methods to take required action in a systematic way.

5. Test Your Hearing: This app lets you evaluate your hearing capabilities. It incorporates two tests, which are required to estimate the range and frequency differentiation. The first test evaluates your audible frequencies by presenting a range of frequency tones. Again, the second test brings to you a host of tone pair, thereby estimating the frequencies which you can differentiate.

6. Immunity Boosters: The immune system of our body plays a crucial role in the maintenance of good health. The individuals who have a good immunity are less prone to diseases and infections. Diet is something that is directly proportional to immunity. This particular app provides information about immunity boosters and factors which tend to have a negative impact on the immunity system. This information helps users in maintaining good health.

7. OnTrack Diabetes: This constitutes one of the most effective yet convenient to use app. It facilitates the control of diabetes through tracking of a number of factors such as medication, weight, blood glucose, food, exercise and pulse. The noteworthy features include a conveniently usable interface which facilitates addition of new entries, a variety of detailed reports and graphs, amongst others.

8. Color Blindness Test: This app evaluates color blindness by offering a kind of test to the users. You just need to take the test to confirm whether you have color blindness or are free from it. This app is based on the fundamentals of color vision science in order to measure the extent and type of color vision deficiency.

9. Homeo Guide: This app presents different kinds of homeopathic treatments and medicines for a range of ailments and diseases that can be treated using homeopathic medication. The user can search treatment for various minor ailments and injuries such as allergies, cough, gastro-enteritis and so on.

10. Calculate by QxMD: This is in fact a kind of medical calculator which also serves as a decision support tool. The application chiefly involves those tools that are very helpful in clinical practice and aids in influencing diagnosis, treatment and determination of prognosis.

11. BMI Calculator: This app calculates the Body Mass Index, wherein you are simply required to enter your height and weight. Instantly, your BMI is calculated and displayed on the screen in addition to other values of overweight, normal weight, obesity, etc.

12. Micromedex Drug Information: This is an immensely beneficial app which is packed with information about drugs including drug administrations, interactions, dosage for adults and children, pharmacokinetics, precautions and so on.

These apps have brought about a revolution in the medical field and will help to carry our different medical procedures in a seamless manner. No wonder Android app development has forayed into healthcare domain in a big way.

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A Consistent Approach to Android Application Performance Testing

Android offers an open source software platform for mobile devices, initially created by Google and subsequently by Open Handset Alliance. The popularity of Android is on the rise as this platform is paving the way for a number of user-friendly apps. With more and more technological advancements, Android is making room for brighter features on Android phones. Irrespective of the time dedicated for Android design or the fact that an application developer is very careful with the programming part, nobody can deny the fact that mistakes can occur anytime leading to appearance of bugs. To reduce the impact of programming errors, and enhancing the productivity of the development procedure, it is crucial to adopt a consistent approach for Android application performance testing.

Phases of Efficient Android Application Testing

Before going into the details of consistent performance testing, let us discuss the crucial phases involved in testing of Android apps.

• Software Validation Testing: This testing phase can be sub-divided into functional testing, followed by non-functional testing, and finally documentation review. Code walk-through is a significant component of functional testing which involves tracing of the source code with the help of a miniature test case. The state program variables are monitored manually in order to analyze the assumptions and logic of the program. Most of the tests done revolve around the call flow and user-interface, involving a final testing done to locate new bugs. The non-functional sub-phase involves testing of user acceptance, compatibility and usability. Finally we have documentation review wherein things like design document review and architect reviews are performed.
  
  
• Performance Testing: This involves two elements: performance elevation followed by performance consulting. Performance elevation involves testing of code profiling, database, endurance, end-to-end transaction and so on, while performance consulting comprises capacity planning and architecture validation.
  
  
• Test automation: This phase ensures the quality assurance and comprehensiveness of the software through establishment of an automation framework, test execution, scripting and regression testing.
  
  

Significant Components of Android app performance testing

So far as performance testing is concerned a consistent delivery model needs to be followed across varying scenarios. This enables Android app developers to comprehend the performance level of the application on any given device from the end-users point of view. Let us understand the significant components of consistent performance tests on Android apps by taking a banking application as an example.

• Server Component: This component takes care of the business logic in case of the banking transactions initiated from a desktop browser or a mobile client.
  
  
• Network Emulator: This helps in the recreation of a range of network conditions like jitter, latency, packet error, reordering or loss, bandwidth restrictions, and so on, enabling developers to replicate environment like LAN, WAN, GPRS, 2G, 3G, etc. The network emulator helps in the determination of the traffic load that the application generates under diverse network conditions.
  
  
• Load Generator: This tool helps subjects the application to load under test conditions and evaluates the load times. Changes in configuration can be made like enhancing simultaneous users, increasing the load and boosting transactions occurring per second.
  
  
• Android Device: Both high-end and low-end devices are used for testing because performance varies and it is essential for a device to be configured accordingly.
  
  
• Performance Monitor: With the help of the performance monitoring tool ‘Perfmon’ which has windows mapping, the performance counters undergo configuration prior to the test. The data collector set once configured and started, leads to automatic data collection for every scenario.
  
  
• Android Debug Bridge: This is a tool that accompanies Android SDK, enabling interface with and control of the Android devices.
  
  
• Dalvik Debug Monitor Server: This tool for Android debugging makes room for things like screen capture, port-forwarding services, radio state information, location data spoofing, logcat and more.
  
  

It is very important to understand the plethora of resources involved before going for android app development. Performance testing is indeed crucial to understand how the application will perform with respect to satisfying the needs of diverse user groups.

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