Running Java on Your Phone
The last stop on your whirlwind tour of Java is the nearest Google Android cell phone. Every single program that runs on Android has been programmed with Java. These mobile programs, which extend the functionality of the phones, are called apps. One of the most popular apps is a game called Angry Birds, shown in Figure 3.7.
Figure 3.7. Angry Birds and all other Android apps were created with the Java language.
You can learn more about this game, if you’re not already familiar with it, by visiting www.angrybirds.com. (But don’t do it! The game will obliterate any hope you had of being productive for the rest of the day, week, or even month—depending on how much you hate fortified pigs.)
Android ends the trip around Java because it’s becoming an incredibly popular place for the language to be used. After you learn Java, you can apply your skills developing your own apps using the Android Software Development Kit (SDK), a free programming toolkit that runs on Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
More than 250,000 apps have been created for Android phones and other devices that run the mobile operating system. You learn more about it in Hour 24, “Writing Android Apps.”