[nd] Android question

Majo no Kiki kiki at kiki.org
Mon Aug 15 19:24:31 UTC 2011


Thanx so much for the reply.  The Wikipedia page did help a lot (though 
more of a *definition* rather than an *explanation*.)  For those 
following this thread, I found this to be even more helpful: 
http://evlan.org/concepts/capabilities/  And so, correct me, the overall 
concept is that you're giving apps only the permissions they need to 
function -- like giving the janitor a small set of keys only to those 
rooms they need access to.  I assume this is what you agree to when you 
download an app: "Access to GPS position; Access to phone state;" and so 
forth.  (I'm worried this will have a similar effect to EULA 
click-through, however, but I digress. :) )  So I will be dealing with 
capability issues then.  Check.

I'm still stuck on where to put the main logic beyond OnCreate -- hmm, 
"activity"...is this an event-driven programming environment?  
(Remember, I'm still more comfortable with a main{} somewhere...!)  I'm 
unclear on what a Manifest is, and all these other items and folders 
that got created in Eclipse.  *sigh*  I feel like I'm wandering in the 
dark, trying to figure things out by touch.  Where's the light switch in 
this place?? :) :) :)

Anyway, I'll restrain myself from asking even more questions!  If this 
is an appropriate forum for my simple questions, I'd be happy to 
continue. :)  And if anyone wants to entertain my questions offline, 
well...yay! :)  Coffee or lunch are offered! :)  (Or maybe Noisebridge 
should consider a class...??)

Kiki

PS A *very* interesting intro talk from Google. 
http://code.google.com/edu/android/index.html  (The first video.  I'm 
digesting this until I watch the others.)  The most important concept I 
got from it is to be *very* frugal with memory -- that Moore's Law is 
being "used up" not by expanding memory capabilities, but by improving 
power consumption (much more important on mobile devices.)  Hmm.  In the 
Olden Days, memory was often exploited in exchange for speed -- it was a 
certain mentality for approaching your code.  This is a very different 
mentality.  Hmm...!

On 8/13/2011 12:30 PM, Anthony Di Franco wrote:
>
> The short answer is, read this:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security
>
> It's the single most unusual feature of android. It's why you've got 
> an xml file asking the operating system to pass your app references to 
> things you want to use.
>
> Everything else is pretty standard from a unix / derivatives point of 
> view and Dalvik is basically a variety of java virtual machine. (Both 
> of which had some mainstream currency in 1999, but if you didn't know 
> much about them then read up on them and their architectures and 
> fundamental ideas too.)
>
> On Aug 13, 2011 9:16 AM, "Majo no Kiki" <kiki at kiki.org 
> <mailto:kiki at kiki.org>> wrote:
> > I'm looking for help in learning about Android apps in general. I see
> > this group is not that, but was wondering if you can point me to 
> someone
> > who might be interested in helping or propose a class or whatnot.
> >
> > Quick background: I've been programming since I was 13 for over 20
> > years, but then haven't programmed since 1999, and *man* have things
> > changed! I was hoping I could just dive in with a Hello World, but got
> > in over my head. Tutorials are useless. I really need a tutor who can
> > quickly answer simple *general* questions -- I need the *concept* of
> > Android, not the minutia.
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
> > Kiki
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Noisedroid mailing list
> > Noisedroid at lists.noisebridge.net 
> <mailto:Noisedroid at lists.noisebridge.net>
> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisedroid



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