CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidlinuxandroid-ndkcross-compiling
dhara
dhara

Reputation: 41

Android-Ndk vs Cross-Compile? Both work, but what was the need of Android NDK then?

I can cross-compile any C/C++ application, statically link it Linux libraries and run it on Android. What was the need of an Android-ndk then? Android-ndk limits us to bionic which has a small subset of gnu libc. Isn't it a better idea to straightaway cross-compile applications and run them through Android shell? Is there any limitation to cross-compiling that I can't see? This URL : Can Linux apps be run in Android? answers my question to some extent but eventually leaves me confused and without clarity.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 3497

Answers (2)

user370305
user370305

Reputation: 109247

I think this is enough for Android-NDK

The Android NDK is a companion tool to the Android SDK that lets you build performance-critical portions of your apps in native code. It provides headers and libraries that allow you to build activities, handle user input, use hardware sensors, access application resources, and more, when programming in C or C++. If you write native code, your applications are still packaged into an .apk file and they still run inside of a virtual machine on the device. The fundamental Android application model does not change.

The NDK provides:

  • A set of tools and build files used to generate native code libraries from C and C++ sources

  • A way to embed the corresponding native libraries into an application package file (.apk) that can be deployed on Android devices

  • A set of native system headers and libraries that will be supported in all future versions of the Android platform, starting from Android 1.5. Applications that use native activities must be run on Android 2.3 or later.

This thing you can not find in other cross-compilation with arm toolchain..

Upvotes: 1

Deepak
Deepak

Reputation: 1141

As mentioned in the link http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/index.html NDK is a companion for App development folk to create performance sensitive native code. NDK exposes some of the native implementation of Android which could not be found in the general Linux environments. Some of them include the Android/Bitmap, Android/nativeWindow etc. Using these Android natives applcation can speed up CPU intensive processes like some compression or decompression of images.

Even though the externally cross-compiled executables may run in the Android there no guarantee that versions of the standard library implementaions are the same. NDK provides a easier and Android compatible toolchain and other resources, using which is much easier to application developers than having to find a compatible cross-compiler for their usecase.

Upvotes: 0

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