Asynchronous Android Programming - Second Edition
eBook - ePub

Asynchronous Android Programming - Second Edition

Helder Vasconcelos

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  1. 394 pages
  2. English
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  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Asynchronous Android Programming - Second Edition

Helder Vasconcelos

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About This Book

Unlock the power of multi-core mobile devices to build responsive and reactive Android applicationsAbout This Book• Construct scalable and performant applications to take advantage of multi-thread asynchronous techniques• Explore the high-level Android asynchronous constructs available on the Android SDK• Choose the most appropriate asynchronous technique to implement your next outstanding featureWho This Book Is ForThis book is for Android developers who want to learn how to build multithreaded and reliable Android applications using high-level and advanced asynchronous techniques and concepts. No prior knowledge of concurrent and asynchronous programming is required. This book will also be great for Java experts who are new to Android.Whether you are a beginner at Android development or a seasoned Android programmer, this book will guide you through the most basic and advanced asynchronous constructs used in Android programming.What You Will Learn• Get familiar with the android process model and low-level concurrent constructs delivered by the Android SDK • Use AsyncTask and loader framework to load data in the background, delivering progress results in the meantime• Create services that interact with your activity without compromising the UI rendering • Learn the working of Android concurrency on the Native Layer• Interact with nearby devices over Bluetooth and WiFi communications channels • Create and compose tasks with RxJava to execute complex asynchronous work in a predictable way• Get accustomed to the use of the Android Loader construct to deliver up-to-date resultsIn DetailAsynchronous programming has acquired immense importance in Android programming, especially when we want to make use of the number of independent processing units (cores) available on the most recent Android devices. With this guide in your hands you'll be able to bring the power of Asynchronous programming to your own projects, and make your Android apps more powerful than ever before!To start with, we will discuss the details of the Android Process model and the Java Low Level Concurrent Framework, delivered by Android SDK. We will also guide you through the high-level Android-specific constructs available on the SDK: Handler, AsyncTask, and Loader. Next, we will discuss the creation of IntentServices, Bound Services and External Services, which can run in the background even when the user is not interacting with it. You will also discover AlarmManager and JobScheduler APIs, which are used to schedule and defer work without sacrificing the battery life. In a more advanced phase, you will create background tasks that are able to execute CPU-intensive tasks in a native code-making use of the Android NDK. You will be then guided through the process of interacting with remote services asynchronously using the HTTP protocol or Google GCM Platform. Using the EventBus library, we will also show how to use the Publish-Subscribe software pattern to simplify communication between the different Android application components by decoupling the event producer from event consumer.Finally, we will introduce RxJava, a popular asynchronous Java framework used to compose work in a concise and reactive way. Asynchronous Android will help you to build well-behaved applications with smooth responsive user interfaces that delight the users with speedy results and data that's always fresh.Style and approachThis easy-to-follow guide is full of code examples of real-world use cases. Each asynchronous topic is explained sequentially, from the most basic and low-level to the more advanced, using concise and effective language. Some lifecycle flows and concepts feature illustrations to help you understand the complex interactions between Android entities.

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Information

Year
2016
ISBN
9781785885518
Edition
2

Asynchronous Android Programming Second Edition


Table of Contents

Asynchronous Android Programming Second Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
eBooks, discount offers, and more
Why subscribe?
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Downloading the example code
Errata
Piracy
Questions
1. Asynchronous Programming in Android
Android software stack
Dalvik runtime
ART runtime
Memory sharing and Zygote
Android process model
Process ranks
Process sandboxing
Android thread model
The main thread
The Application Not Responding (ANR) dialog
Maintaining responsiveness
Concurrency in Android
Correctness issues in concurrent programs
Liveness issues in concurrent programs
Thread coordination
Concurrent package constructs
Executor framework
Android primary building blocks
Activity concurrent issues
Manipulating the user interface
Service concurrent issues
Started services issues
Bound services issues
Service in a separate process
Broadcast receiver concurrent issues
Android concurrency constructs
Summary
2. Performing Work with Looper, Handler, and HandlerThread
Understanding Looper
Understanding Handler
Sending work to a Looper
Scheduling work with post
Using Handler to defer work
Leaking implicit references
Leaking explicit references
Updating the UI with Handler
Canceling a pending Runnable
Scheduling work with send
Cancelling pending messages
Composition versus inheritance
Multithreading with Handler and ThreadHandler
Looper message dispatching debugging
Sending messages versus posting runnables
Applications of Handler and HandlerThread
Summary
3. Exploring the AsyncTask
Introducing AsyncTask
Declaring AsyncTask types
Executing AsyncTasks
Providing indeterministic progress feedback
Providing deterministic progress feedback
Canceling an AsyncTask
AsyncTask Execution State
Handling exceptions
Controlling the level of concurrency
Common AsyncTask issues
Fragmentation issues
Memory leaks
Activity lifecycle issues
Handling lifecycle issues with early cancellation
Handling lifecycle issues with retained headless fragments
Applications of AsyncTask
Summary
4. Exploring the Loader
Introducing Loaders
Loader API
Loader
Loader Manager
LoaderManager.LoaderCallbacks
Loader lifecycle
Loading data with Loader
Building responsive apps with AsyncTaskLoader
Building responsive apps with CursorLoader
Combining Loaders
Applications of Loader
Summary
5. Interacting with Services
Introducing Service
Started service
Building responsive apps with IntentService
Handling results
Posting results with PendingIntent
Posting results as system notifications
Applications of IntentService
HTTP uploads with IntentService
Reporting progress
Bound Service
Communicating with a Local Service
Broadcasting results with intents
Detecting unhandled broadcasts
Applications of Services
Summary
6. Scheduling Work with AlarmManager
Introducing AlarmManager
Scheduling alarms with AlarmManager
Setting alarms in recent Android versions
Testing your alarms in Doze Mode
Setting a Window alarm
Debugging AlarmManager alarms
Canceling alarms
Scheduling repeating alarms
Scheduling an alarm clock
Handling alarms
Handling alarms with Activities
Handling alarms with BroadcastReceiver
Working with BroadcastReceiver
Asynchronous work with goAsync
Handling alarms with Services
Staying awake with WakeLocks
Resetting alarms after a system reboot
Applications of AlarmManager
Summary
7. Exploring the JobScheduler API
Introduction to JobScheduler
Setting running criteria
Scheduling a job
Implementing the JobService
Listing pending jobs
Canceling a job
Scheduling a periodic job
Applications of the JobScheduler
Summary
8. Interacting with the Network
Introducing Android HTTP clients
AndroidHttpClient
HttpURLConnection
Performing HTTP requests asynchronously
Retrieving a text response
Interacting with JSON web APIs
Converting Java objects to JSON
Interacting with XML web APIs
Converting Java objects to XML
Converting XML to Java objects
Customizing HTTP timeouts
Communicating securely over SSL sessions
Summary
9. Asynchronous Work on the Native Layer
Introduction to JNI
Android NDK (Native Development Kit)
Calling C functions from Java code
Calling C++ functions from native code
Accessing Java objects from native code
Executing native background work on Java threads
Executing asynchronous work on a native thread
Attaching and detaching native threads from JVM
JNI references explained
Interacting with UI from native threads
Starting the native threads
Stopping the native threads
Handling Java exceptions in the native layer
Interacting with a Java monitor from native code
Wrapping native data objects
Summary
10. Network Interactions with GCM
Introduction to GCM
Setting up and configuring GCM for your application
Registering the GCM Receiver
Setting up a registration service
InstanceID listener
Receiving downstream messages
Receiving messages from topic
Sending upstream messages
GcmListenerService delivery callbacks
Executing tasks with GCM Network Manager
Building a one shot task
Summary
11. Exploring Bus-based Communications
Introduction to bus-based communication
EventBus library
Defining events
Submitting events
Registering sbscribers
Thread mode
Posting sticking events
Removing sticky events
Summary
12. Asynchronous Programing with RxJava
Introduction to RxJava
Cold versus Hot Observable
RxJava setup
Creating Observables
Transforming Observables
Understanding Schedulers
Performing IO operations with Schedulers
Canceling subscriptions
Composing Observables
Monitoring the event stream
Combining Observables
Observing UI Events with RxJava
Working with Subjects
Summary
Index

Asynchronous Android Programming Second Edition

Copyright © 2016 Packt Publishing
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First published: July 2016
Production reference: 1260716
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
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Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78588-324-8
www.packtpub.com

Credits

Author
Helder Vasconcelos
Reviewer
Gavin Matthews
Commissioning Editor
Edward Gordon
Acquisition Editor
Indrajit Das
Content Development Editor
Siddhesh Salvi
Technical Editor
Danish Shaikh
Copy Editor
Vibha Shukla
Project Coordinator
Nidhi Joshi
Proofreader
Safis Editing
Indexer
Mariammal Chettiyar
Graphics
Disha Haria
Production Coordinator
Arvindkumar Gupta
Cover Work
Arvindkumar Gupta

About the Author

Helder Vasconcelos ...

Table of contents