Android 1.5 gets official SDK for native development

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 25th 2009 at 5:31PM

Java-based development within a specialized, optimized virtual machine is one of the founding principles of the platform that makes Android what it is -- but sometimes, you need a little more oomph and you've got to bend the rules to make that happen. Google's totally cool with that, it turns out, and today they've released the Android 1.5 Native Development Kit (NDK) that allows developers to generate C and C++ libraries that run directly on the platform rather than being routed through Dalvik. The Android team pulls no punches that devs should be careful when going native, saying "your application will be more complicated, have reduced compatibility, have no access to framework APIs, and be harder to debug" -- but as they note, there'll be times when the improved performance and deeper access to hardware will be a boon. As with HTC's Sense, it'll be interesting to see how this affects the platform going forward.

Filed under: Software, Android

Tags: android, native, native development, native development kit, NativeDevelopment, NativeDevelopmentKit, ndk

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Soooooo @ Jun 26th 2009 11:27AM

This is the problem. The Solution. The greatness. The fault.

So we will have free apps, paid for apps.. native and "regala" apps. I hope there is a filter in the market that will allow us to only see Native, etc.

This is going to be fun.

Neutral

Troy @ Jun 26th 2009 7:52PM

I am thinking about getting an htc magic or google ion or G2 unlocked international version from ebay or amazon and I was wondering if I will not receive the firmware updates because the phone is an international version. Will I receive the android os updates over wifi or the at&t US iphone 3g network even if the unlocked phone is an international version?