I'd figure discussion about Java on Android would go in our J2ME forum.
I haven't seen any posts about Android itself here (not that I've been looking for them), so I don't think there's enough traffic to create a forum for the OS itself. They'd probably go in General Computing for now.
Android (Java)code runs on Dalvik virtual machine which, as i gather from what i have read, is different from JVM.Following is an excerpt from andbook [available here]
Dalvik.equals(Java) == false
Why “Dalvik”? – The Dalvik virtual machine was named by Bornstein after the fishing village of Dalvík in Eyjafjörður (Iceland), where some of his ancestors lived. As you may have heard of, Dalvik is the name of Android's virtual machine. It is an interpreter-only virtual machine that executes files in the Dalvik Executable (*.dex) format, a format that is optimized for efficient storage and memory-mappable execution. The virtual machine is register-based, and it can run classes compiled by a Java language compiler that have been transformed into its native format using the included "dx" tool. The VM runs on top of a Linux 2.6 kernel, which it relies on for underlying functionality (such as threading and low level memory management). The DalvikVM was also optimized to be running in multiple instances with a very low memory-footprint. Several VMs protect ones application from being dragged down by another crashed Application.
Differences to a normal JavaVM
JavaVM’s one can find on almost any desktop computer nowadays are Stack-based Virtual Machines (VM).The DalvikVM on the other hand is register based, because on mobile-processors are optimized for register-based execution. Also of register-based VMs allow faster execution times at the expense of programs which are larger after compilation.
paul wheaton wrote:I think an android forum is not out of the question ... my primary concern is that we would create the forum and then nobody uses it.
Android is new and there are only a handful of forums that offer good advice. IMO JavaRanch could be helpful in this area too.
paul wheaton wrote:I think an android forum is not out of the question ... my primary concern is that we would create the forum and then nobody uses it.
Perhaps this would be easier if we knew more: When one develops for android .... is it like J2ME with a rich java library?
Android is not like J2ME, thank God. Android has a very rich Java API to build mobile applications for Android capable devices.
I could support an android forum. But before it is created, I would want some kind of assurance that for the first month, any time I go there, there are at least 8 threads that have been added to "today".
This usually means that a few folks are willing to to keep some interesting discussion going there during this first month (new forum incubation period).
Is there a product or book that could slide into our book promotion engine that might help with this? Maybe somebody could get a google phone to develop on?
I understand what you are trying to say there and I am not sure how to reply to your questions; there are a few android books available though. Also, there is absolutely no need to buy a google phone to start writing apps for android; there is an emulator bundled with the SDK, which emulates most of the workings of a G-phone.That being said, the emulator does have problems with some of the stuff, for e.g sending emails.
Personally I think that Android has an impressive Google groups (4 or 5 groups) , I don't think the Ranch will offer something similar.
My thoughts of course.
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