This presents my experience with building Swing apps vs. Android apps in the past 10+ years. It is not intended to go into deep details of technology but rather highlighting the main aspects and differences between the 2 platforms This presentation was given at The Ceara Java User Group meeting in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brasil December 9, 2011 by Johnny Hujol.

1. Disclaimer
- The views expressed in this presentation are my personal
views.
- Any opinions, comments, solutions or other commentary
expressed by me are based on my experience.
- This presentation is presented for educational purposes
and is therefore supplementary and not to be considered
exhaustive.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

2. Building
Swing vs. Android
Applications
By Johnny Hujol

3. Who am I
- A French leaving in Boston.
- Software Engineer for a US pharmaceuticals company.
- 10+ years in Biotech/Pharmaceuticals sector developing
scientific applications.
- 10+ years in Java.
- 1+ year in Android.
- Co-published book on Java called
‘Java for Bioinformatics and Biomedical Applications’.
• 10+ years kitesurfing 
• 4th time in Taiba, Ceara, Brasil.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

4. Agenda
- History
- Swing Application
- Android Application
- Development Environment
- Comparison
- Building Applications
- Conclusion
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

5. History
- 1995: Oak (Java) was released for Sun machines.
- 1996: Java 1 initial release.
- 1998: Swing part of JDK 1.2.
- September 23, 2008: Android 1.0.
- July 28, 2011: JSE 7.0.
- October 2011: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

6. Swing App
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

7. Swing App - Anatomy
- JFrame, JButton, custom Java classes, events,
exceptions, etc.
- Implement algorithms, business rules, etc.
- Connect to some storage to deal with data i.e. database,
web service, file system, memory, etc.
- Might have multiple background tasks running.
- Offline or online app.
- Goal: help people to do things better.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

8. Swing App - Life Cycle
- Main() method as starting point of program.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

9. Swing App – Multi-Threaded
- A Swing application is multi-threaded by nature.
- Single thread model for Event Dispatching Thread (EDT).
- Importance of (EDT) for UI responsiveness.
- EventQueue.invokeLater(Runnable).
- SwingWorker doInBackground() and done().
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

10. Swing App – Multi-Threaded
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

11. Swing App – Multi-Threaded
- Do heavy work in the background.
- More fine and advanced control with java.util.concurrent
package.
- Executors to do background works to keep UI responsive.
- FutureTask (java.util.concurrent).
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

12. Swing App – Multi-Threaded
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

13. Swing App - More
- Exception handling policy based on requirements.
- Custom exceptions.
- Asynchronous messaging mechanism with java.awt.event
i.e. event classes and listener classes.
- System events i.e. MouseEvent, KeyboardEvent, screen,
etc.
- Semantic events i.e. ActionEvent, TextEvent, etc.
- Events are always fired in the EDT.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

14. Swing App – And More
- Internationalization.
- 2D/3D/OpenGL, Media APIs, etc…
- Debugging tools.
- Logging, Tests, Profiling APIs.
- Compilers, JVMs.
- Encryption.
- More…
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

15. Android Application
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

16. Android App - Anatomy
- Activity, TextView, custom Java classes, exceptions, etc.
- Implement algorithms, business rules, etc.
- Connect to some storage to deal with data i.e. database,
web service, file system, SD card, etc.
- Might have multiple background tasks running.
- Offline or online app.
- Goal: help people to do things better.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

17. Android App - Components
- Activity = UI.
- Service = background tasks.
- Content Provider: sharing data uniformly from multiple
apps.
- Broadcast receiver = big announcer across components or
apps i.e. a broader event mechanism.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

18. Android App – Life Cycle
- Components Life Cycle well defined.
- Activity (UI) starts with onCreate() in UI thread.
- Visible lifetime between onStart() and onStop().
- Foreground lifetime between onResume() and onPause().
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

19. Android App – Activity
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

20. Android App - Multi-Threaded
- Single thread model for UI toolkit.
- The Andoid UI toolkit is not thread-safe.
- Do not block the UI thread.
- Do not access the Android UI toolkit outside the UI
thread.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

21. Android App - Multi-Threaded
- Activity.runOnUiThread(Runnable)
- View.post(Runnable)
- View.postDelayed(Runnable, long)
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

22. Android App - Multi-Threaded
- AsyncTask similar to SwingWorker.
- Package java.util.concurrent for Executors, etc.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

23. Android App - More
- Exception handling policy based on requirements.
- Custom exceptions.
- Separation of layout from UI logic with XML.
- Notifications with Toast, Status Bar and Progress.
- Listeners.
- Sensor APIs for GPS, camera, telephony, accelerometer,
etc.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

24. Android App – And More
- Internalionalization.
- 2D/3D, OpenGL, etc.
- Database, SD card, FS access.
- Configuration for multiple device specs.
- Encryption.
- And More…
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

25. Questions so far?
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

26. Development Environment
- I use IntelliJ IDEA for Swing and Android apps.
- Ant.
- Android command line to build initial Android project.
- Adb for interacting with USB plugged devices.
- XML layout profiler with Hierarchy Viewer.
- Android project libraries to share between apps.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

27. Development Environment
- LogCat.
- Junit for testing, logging APIs.
- Monkey and monkeyrunner.
- Emulator.
- SensorSimulator.
- AndroidScreencast.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

28. Development Environment
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

29. Comparison – Life Cycle
- Life Cycle for Android is well defined.
- All Android activities changes through states the same
way.
- Save/restore state in the foreground lifetime onResume()
and onPause().
- Important to release resources and kill background tasks
when going on onPause().
- Save state in onPause() needs to execute quickly.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

30. Comparison – Life Cycle
- Cannot ‘quit’ an Android application.
- Allow fast switching to Android apps.
- Users use many apps back and forth.
- Similar to opening lots of apps on computer when
working.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

31. Comparison – Multi-Threaded
- Transfer knowledge of Swing multi-threaded apps.
- Less frequent cases on Android apps than Swing apps.
- Simpler Android apps = less synchronization.
- New methods runOnUiThread, AsyncTack (SwingWorker).
- Cancelling policy more important on Android apps.
- Does user allow background services.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

32. Comparison – Storage
- API for local Database (DB) like SQLLite.
- API for Web Services like Amazon S3.
- File System (FS) on device or remote.
- Harder to test web services on the emulator.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

33. Comparison – Storage
- Internal storage with Context class.
- External storage i.e. SD card.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

34. Comparison – Device Resources
- Battery is the most precious resource on Android devices.
- Do not write intensive computation in the background.
- Screen size very small with 2 mode landscape & portrait.
- Memory because no ‘quit’ manage the listeners i.e. like
GPS location manager, etc.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

35. Comparison – Device Resources
- Code impact on memory.
- Extends listener instead of creating inner class.
- Use primitive int instead of Enum class = less memory.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

36. Comparison – Network
- Checking availability.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

37. Comparison – Development Cycle
- Emulator might not be consistent to real device.
- Test directly on device more than emulator.
- Faster release because less features.
- Simpler application architecture on Android.
- Send logging info to network.
- Once deployed on production harder to debug.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

38. Comparison – Sensors
- Native support on Android devices.
- Available on Swing through integration.
- Can have different specs depending on device.
- Getting easier with WiFi-Direct, Bluetooth, etc.
- Location based application more natural on Android.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

39. Questions so far?
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

40. Building Apps
- Mobile nature of Android apps.
- New mobile paradigms to manipulate UI.
- Swing will adopt mobile paradigms.
- Android devices, computers and the cloud.
- Component model of Android apps.
- Similarity between 2 platforms.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

41. Building Apps - Architecture
- Importance of separation of UI, business logic and storage
in design of an app.
- Can reuse non-UI logic from Swing i.e. Data Access
Object, etc.
- Easier to build an Android app from a multi-tier Swing
apps, no need to test business logic again.
- Allow offline vs. online mode.
- Develop and reuse libraries.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

42. Building Apps - Software Engineering
- Get your users involved.
- Deploy often.
- Continuously testing the system.
- Design Patterns.
- Design for reusability and maintenance.
- Network back-end for intensive computation tasks.
- Use primitive int in Android apps.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

43. Building Apps - Assurance Quality
- Mock, Unit Test, MonkeyTest (Android), etc.
- Code static analysis.
- Use code reviews.
- Performance on memory with profiler.
- Multi-threaded apps easier on Android.
- Use logging API.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

44. Conclusion
- Easy transition from Swing to/from Android.
- Faster to develop Android app.
- Well defined Life Cycle of Android app.
- Keep a design of apps simple.
- Allow offline and online mode for apps.
- Design apps more in a mobile way.
- Cloud based applications.
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

45. Questions & Answers
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09

46. References
• Android
– http://developer.android.com
• Screencast
– http://code.google.com/p/androidscreencast/
• SensorSimulator
– http://code.google.com/p/openintents/wiki/SensorSimulator
• Android Way on Multitasking
- http://developer.android.com/resources/articles/multitasking-android-way.html
Swing vs. Android - Johnny Hujol - CEJUG Fortaleza, Brasil - 2011/12/09