Code Reuse between Java and Android Applications

Yoonsik Cheon, Carlos Chavez, Ubaldo Castro

2019

Abstract

Java and Android applications can be written in the same programming language. Thus, it is natural to ask how much code can be shared between them. In this paper we perform a case study to measure quantitatively the amount of code that can be shared and reused for a multiplatform application running on the Java platform and the Android platform. We first configure a multiplatform development environment consisting of platform-specific tools. We then propose a general architecture for a multiplatform application under a guiding design principle of having clearly defined interfaces and employing loose coupling to accommodate platform differences and variations. Specifically, we separate our application into two parts, a platform-independent part (PIP) and a platform-dependent part (PDP), and share the PIP between platform-specific versions. Our finding is that 37%–40% of code can be shared and reused between the Java and the Android versions of our application. Interestingly, the Android version requires 8% more code than Java due to platform-specific constraints and concerns. We also learned that the quality of an application can be improved dramatically through multiplatform development.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Cheon Y., Chavez C. and Castro U. (2019). Code Reuse between Java and Android Applications.In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Software Technologies - Volume 1: ICSOFT, ISBN 978-989-758-379-7, pages 246-253. DOI: 10.5220/0007843702460253

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icsoft19,
author={Yoonsik Cheon and Carlos Chavez and Ubaldo Castro},
title={Code Reuse between Java and Android Applications},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Software Technologies - Volume 1: ICSOFT,},
year={2019},
pages={246-253},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0007843702460253},
isbn={978-989-758-379-7},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Software Technologies - Volume 1: ICSOFT,
TI - Code Reuse between Java and Android Applications
SN - 978-989-758-379-7
AU - Cheon Y.
AU - Chavez C.
AU - Castro U.
PY - 2019
SP - 246
EP - 253
DO - 10.5220/0007843702460253