121 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
121 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
page.title=Developer Roadmap
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@jd:body
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<h1>Android Developer Roadmap</h1>
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<h2>Introduction</h2>
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<p>
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On 12 November, 2007, we made available the first early look at the Android
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SDK to give developers an opportunity to explore Android and build
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applications for the Android Developer Challenge. That was followed by the
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"M5" early look build.
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</p><p>
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Since then, we've been hard at work with our <a
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href="http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/">partners</a> preparing the first
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device for launch and finalizing the APIs and platform. The developer
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feedback we received via the "early look" SDKs has been extremely valuable in
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that process. This Roadmap outlines our plans for
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the coming months, and lets you know what to expect as we near device
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availability.
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</p><p>
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This is the top-level Roadmap. Individual components of Android (such as
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the Dalvik virtual machine, the Android Developer Tools, and so on) will have
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their own roadmaps, once we complete the source code release. Those roadmaps
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will be linked to this page, as they become available.
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</p>
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<h2>Timeline</h2>
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<p>
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To orient yourself, consult this brief timeline. Read on for details on these
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milestones.
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</p><ul>
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<li>12 November, 2007 - "Early Look" SDK released</li>
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<li>January to August, 2008 - Android Developer Challenge I</li>
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<li>18 August, 2008 - Android 0.9 SDK beta released</li>
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<li>28 August, 2008 - Android Market introduced</li>
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<li>23 September, 2008 - Android 1.0 SDK Release 1 available (first actual
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1.0-compatible SDK)</li>
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<li>22 October, 2008 - Android 1.0 devices available at retail</li>
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<li>Q4 2008 - Source code released</li>
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<li>Q4 2008 - Key Announcement on Android Developer Challenge II</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>SDK Naming and Compatibility</h2>
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<p>
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Before we dive into details, here is a quick note on how we name SDKs.
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</p><p>
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We've adopted the following naming convention for Android SDKs:
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"Android <Platform> SDK, release <Release>"
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</p><p>
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The downloadable file names for the SDKs will have this naming convention:
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"android-sdk-<Host-OS>-<Platform>_r<Release>.zip"
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</p><p>
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The "<Platform>" refers to the version of the Android platform with which the
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SDK is compatible. For instance, an SDK that can be used to build
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applications that will run on Android 1.0 is considered to be an "Android 1.0
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SDK". However, since we do expect to release bug fixes and enhancements for
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the various tools included in the SDK (such as the emulator, Eclipse plugin,
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DDMS, and so on) we need to distinguish between releases of the SDK that can
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be used to build for the same Android platform. That's what we will use the
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"<Release>" for.
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</p><p>
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For example, the first SDK that is compatible with Android 1.0 is named
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"Android 1.0 SDK, release 1", and will have file names such as
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"android-sdk-windows-1.0_r1.zip". In the future, after we release a
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hypothetical Android 2.0 platform version, you might see an SDK named "Android
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2.0 SDK, release 3", which would refer to the third released SDK compatible
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with Android 2.0.
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</p>
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<h2>Details of Key Events</h2>
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<h3>Ongoing SDK Releases</h3>
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<p>
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The SDK consists of two general pieces: a version of the Android platform
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itself (that runs in the emulator), and the accompanying developer tools that
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surround it. This means that when we ship SDK releases, all releases within a
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given series (such as all the SDKs for Android 1.0) will consist of
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essentially the same platform image, but with different, updated tools.
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</p><p>
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In August, we released Android 0.9 SDK, beta. The Android
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platform image was not quite 1.0-final (which is why we identified it as 0.9),
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and the tools were not yet final (which is why we referred to it as
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beta.) </p>
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<p>For the SDK that includes the Android 1.0 platform and updated tools,
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we've dropped the beta labeling and released "Android 1.0 SDK, release
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1". Applications developed on this SDK version will be compatible with
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devices that run the Android 1.0 platform.</p>
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<h3>Device Availability</h3>
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<p>The first Android-powered device, the T-Mobile G1, was announced on 23 September,
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2008. To learn more about the T-Mobile G1, see the <a href="http://www.t-mobileg1.com">T-Mobile G1 site</a>.
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<p>Other partners will be releasing Android-powered devices in the future.
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We will update this space with more specific information about each device
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release, as it becomes
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available.</p>
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<h3>Source Code Release</h3>
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<p>
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We are currently in the process of preparing for the release of the source
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code. This includes a few key tasks:
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</p><ul>
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<li>Selection of hosting infrastructure</li>
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<li>Updating the build infrastructure for general use</li>
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<li>Creation of a project governance framework</li>
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<li>Final examination of source code for release approval</li>
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<li>Physical upload and release packaging of the source code</li>
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</ul><p>
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This work is already under way, but since Android contains some 8 million
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lines of code, it's a lengthy process. We expect this process to conclude
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(and source code to be released) in Q4 of 2008.
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</p>
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<h3>Android Developer Challenge II</h3>
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<p>
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When Android was announced on 5 November, 2007, Google also announced a $10
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million <a href="{@docRoot}adc.html">Android Developer Challenge</a>, split into two separate $5 million
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events. The first Android Developer Challenge ran from January 2008 through
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August 2008, and was intended to give developers an opportunity to explore
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their ideas using the early look SDK and build prototype applications -- to
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"get in on the ground floor." The second Challenge will give developers a
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chance to build polished applications once hardware is available.
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</p><p>
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We'll be making some interesting announcements regarding ADC II soon, in Q3 or
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Q4.
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</p>
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