Essential Android Development

Name: Essential Android Development
ISBN: 9787111390589

Fan HuaiyuChina Machine Press2012

4.1

Word count: 135K words
Chapters: 15
ISBN: 9787111390589

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Summary

Essential Android Development is an advanced technical book by veteran Android engineer Fan Huaiyu, published by China Machine Press in 2012. The author has worked on the Android clients of NetEase Youdao Dictionary, NetEase Mail, and Wandoujia, and this book distills his years of experience working with the system source code. The book has 13 chapters, organized around "understanding app development through the source code": it first explains Android's system architecture, core modules, and design philosophy, and describes how to obtain, compile, read, and edit the source code to help readers build a big-picture understanding; it then analyzes the component model, the Intent mechanism, the component lifecycle (including the process and thread models), and the various schemes and applicable scenarios for passing data between components; next it dissects the UI widget framework and the resource system; finally it covers data storage, network communication, geographic information services, multimedia processing, and other important modules such as the NDK, library porting, and the kernel, and also touches on extensions such as NFC and WiFi P2P. It is not positioned as an introductory tutorial: the author deliberately strips away a great deal of trivial low-level implementation detail and highly abstracts how the system works, so that developers whose foundations are not yet solid and who lack the time to dig through the source can still understand Android's design philosophy and operating principles, and thus write apps that align more closely with the platform's design and run more efficiently and reliably. The book runs about 135,000 characters over 335 pages and was recommended by the 51CTO Mobile Development Channel and the Open Source China community, with a Douban rating of 8.2.

Editor's review

很多 Android 开发者写了两三年代码，仍说不清 Activity 和 Service 究竟为何这样设计；市面上的入门书教你怎么调用 API，却很少告诉你框架内部为什么长成这样。《Android开发精要》补的正是这一段：它不逐行解读源码，而是从繁杂实现中提炼出设计的“要点”，把系统架构、组件机制、控件与资源、存储与网络这条主线讲通，让读者建立一张完整的 Android 心智地图。作者范怀宇出身清华，做过有道词典、豌豆荚等知名客户端的 Android 开发，选题与详略都来自一线踩坑经验，因此书中对生命周期、进程线程模型、组件间数据传递的取舍讲得格外实在。中图网资料显示，本书曾获 51CTO 移动开发频道和开源中国社区联袂推荐，豆瓣 8.2 分的评价也说明它经受住了读者检验。需要提醒的是，本书成书于 2012 年，对应的是 Android 4.0 前后的技术栈，今天读来更像一部“原理书”而非“操作手册”：框架思想仍具参考价值，但具体的 API、构建工具与工程实践请以最新官方文档为准。

Who it's for

A good fit for

已有一定 Android 开发经验、想理解框架底层机制的中级开发者
读过入门教程但对源码望而生畏、希望低成本建立系统认识的工程师
从事 Android 性能优化、组件化或系统定制，需要补齐原理基础的技术人员
计算机相关专业高年级学生，作为课程之外了解移动系统架构的读物

Not a good fit for

完全没有 Java 与 Android 基础的零起点读者，本书不教环境搭建与第一个 App
只想快速照抄代码做项目、不关心实现原理的读者
需要学习 Kotlin、Jetpack、Compose 等现代 Android 技术栈的读者

Reading tips

先通读第 1 章建立系统架构的整体印象，再按组件、控件资源、存储与网络的顺序推进
读组件机制各章时对照官方文档与源码，边读边写小 Demo 验证生命周期和线程模型
把它当作原理参考书而非手册，遇到实际项目中的疑难再回查对应章节效率更高
书中 API 与工具已有时效性，实践环节以当前官方文档为准，取其设计思路

About the publisher

China Machine Press China · Founded in 1950

In addition to science and technology and professional publishing, the books in our catalog from China Machine Press also reflect a sustained focus on psychology, computing, management, finance and economics, and social sciences. In psychology, the catalog includes works by C. G. Jung and introductions to analytical psychology, as well as applied topics such as stress and health, and addiction and healing. In computing, it features Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (JavaScript Edition). Management and finance titles include Administrative Behavior (4th Edition), The Price of Inequality (Collector's Edition), and This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (Commemorative Edition). In the philosophy and history of science, there is The Worldview: The Third Edition. Relevant authors include C. G. Jung, William McGuire, Sonu Shamdasani, and Gabor Maté. Public information is limited; the above summarizes the publisher's profile based solely on the books in our catalog.

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Android System Architecture
Chapter 2 Downloading and Compiling the Android Source Code
Chapter 3 Anatomy of the Android Component Model
Chapter 4 Android's Intent Mechanism
Chapter 5 Anatomy of the Component Lifecycle
Chapter 6 Passing Data Between Components
Chapter 7 Anatomy of Android Widgets
Chapter 8 App Resources
Chapter 9 Data Storage
Chapter 10 Network Communication
Chapter 11 Geographic Information Services
Chapter 12 Multimedia Processing
Chapter 13 Other Important Modules

FAQ

这本书适合零基础学 Android 吗？

不太适合。本书默认读者已掌握 Java 基础和基本 Android 开发，重心在系统架构、组件机制、控件与资源、存储与网络等底层原理，并不讲授环境搭建和入门示例。零基础读者建议先读一本入门教程再回来看它。

书中讲的源码需要自己下载编译吗？

第 2 章专门讲了 Android 源代码的获取、编译、阅读和编辑方法，但作者整体是从源码中提炼要点、而非逐行解读，所以不编译也能读懂。想深入验证的读者可以跟着第 2 章动手搭一次源码环境。

2012 年出版的书现在还有阅读价值吗？

有选择地读仍有价值。系统分层架构、组件模型、Intent 机制、生命周期与进程线程模型这些核心设计变化相对缓慢；但具体 API、构建工具和界面实践已明显过时，建议结合最新官方文档对照阅读。

豆瓣评分和页数是多少？

据豆瓣条目（subject/11530748），本书评分 8.2 分，约 170 人评价；页数各来源略有差异，多为 335 页。掌阅电子版标注字数约 13.5 万字。

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