There are so many buzzwords! You can never remember them all, because people (mostly Google) mint new ones all the times. Here are the ones I’ve run across lately:
| |Name|Meaning |
|---|
Activity |
One screen the user interacts with |
AIDL |
Interface Def’n Language |
a.o.* |
Java package android.os.* |
AOSP |
Android Open Source Project |
APEX |
Android Pony EXpress |
Arm |
CPU type used on most mobile devices |
ART |
Android Run Time: a Dalvik replacement (Android 5+) |
AWS |
Not Amazon Web Services, but Advanced Wireless Service, frequency band for 3G/4G cell phone service |
a.w.* |
Java package android.widget.* |
BDSM |
Tool created by Jonathan Levin |
Binder |
basic IPC/RPC mechanism in Android |
Bionic |
Android’s C library |
Broadcast Receiver |
App component for receiving system-wide change notifications |
BSP |
Board Support Package/Provider - SoC firmware level |
C++ |
"C Incremented"; C with Classes for OOP (1977-ish) C Major computer programming language since 1973; used in VMs and in JNI Dalvik Original VM for Android (up to 4.4) DEX Dalvik Executable: Android bytecode format eBPF Android extensible impl of Berkeley Packet Filter GAPP Google Apps (also Google Advanced Protection Program for account protection) GPU Graphics Processor Unit HAL Hardware Abstraction Layer HIDL Hardware Interface Defn Language Intent Java object representing the Intention to perform some action IPC Inter-Process Communication (like networking but on the same system) Java OO Programming language (1995); original language of most Android apps JetPack Consolidation of newer APIs (packages androidx.*) JNI Java Native Interface: allows to run code written in C/C++ Kotlin Newer language for writing Android apps LTTng Linux Trace Tool NG NAN Neighborhood Aware Networking NDK Native Devel Kit - tools for JNI dev Nothing An Android OEM ODM Original Device Manager - device vendor code level OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer - a company that makes Android devices OOP Object-oriented programming Pixel Google’s own line of Android devices, named after Picture Element Pixel Picture Element: Each tiny dot making up an image on screen or on a printer. RPC Remote Procedure Call (Calling a method on a remote object, in Android usually via Binder) Service App Component for running in background SGL Simple Graphics Library (layer over OpenGL/Vulkan) SoC System on a Chip (also used in desktop/laptop PCs) SQLite SQL subset database that runs in-process; built-in on most mobile OSes Tensor Google SOC based on Arm Treble System re-org to allow easier updating of 3rd-party devices Vulkan Graphics API lower level than OpenGL |