Hervé Guihot started learning about computers more than 20 years ago with an Amstrad CPC464. Although the CPC464 is most likely the reason why he still appreciates green-screened devices (ask him about his phone), Hervé started working with Android as it became a popular platform for application development. It was also was the only platform that combined two of his main passions: oftware and pastries. After many years working in the world of interactive and digital elevision, he is focused on bringing Android to more devices to encourage more evelopers to leverage the power of Android and more people to have access to the technology. Hervé is currently a software engineering manager in MediaTek www.mediatek.com), a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless ommunications and digital multimedia solutions. He holds an engineering degree from the Institut de Formation Supérieure en Informatique et Télécommunication in Rennes, Brittany, and you can sometimes find him waiting in line for an éclair on 18th and Guerrero.

Today’s Android apps developers are often running into the need to refine, improve and optimize their apps performances. As more complex apps can be created, it is even more important for developers to deal with this critical issue.

Android allows developers to write apps using Java, C or a combination of both with the Android SDK and the Android NDK. Pro Android Apps Performance Optimization reveals how to fine-tune your Android apps, making them more stable and faster. In this book, you’ll learn the following:

How to optimize your Java code with the SDK, but also how to write and optimize native code using advanced features of the Android NDK such as using ARM single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions (in C or assembly)

How to use multithreading in your application, how make best use of memory and how to maximize battery life

How to use to some OpenGL optimizations and to Renderscript, a new feature in Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and expanded in Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

After reading and using this book, you’ll be a better coder and your apps will be better-coded. Better-performing apps mean better reviews and eventually, more money for you as the app developer or your indie shop.

What you’ll learn

How to optimize your applications in Java

How to optimize your applications using the NDK

How to best use memory to maximize performance

How to maximize battery life

How and when to use multi-threading

How to benchmark and profile your code

How to optimize OpenGL code and use Renderscript

Who this book is for

Android developers already familiar with Java and Android SDK, who want to go one step further and learn how to maximize performance.