Re:Yesterday I Wrote My First Firefox OS App
by rhelmer on Tuesday August 13, 2013 @04:42AM
(#6204641)
> It's not like Android runs all native code in a VM - it's as "close to the metal" as you can get
Can you please explain how Dalvik[1] isn't a VM? Sorry if I am missing your point.
Are you referring to the NDK[2]? I haven't used it but my understanding was that Dalvik is still used for UI and basic process control, while calling out to native code via JNI.
Re:Yesterday I Wrote My First Firefox OS App
by kllrnohj on Wednesday August 14, 2013 @05:59PM
(#6214616)
I was referring to the NDK. The NDK is perfectly capable of input & drawing - it's what many games use, for example. It's also what Firefox uses. Well, Firefox is a hybrid - a mix of Java and native. But the web parts are all native running outside of dalvik and drawing directly to a surface via OpenGL.
Re:Yesterday I Wrote My First Firefox OS App
by koolkao on Monday August 12, 2013 @09:24PM
(#6203455)
> Particularly since Firefox OS is built on top of Android
Source? I don't think this is the case
Re:Yesterday I Wrote My First Firefox OS App
by sirkneeland on Tuesday August 13, 2013 @02:27AM
(#6204296)
According to Moz's website:
The lower-level "operating system" of b2g. Gonk consists of a linux kernel and userspace hardware abstraction layer (HAL). The kernel and several userspace libraries are common open-source projects: linux, libusb, bluez, etc. Some other parts of the HAL are shared with the android project: GPS, camera, among others. You could say that Gonk is an extremely simple linux distribution.
Or hell, just run Firefox on your existing Android device - that's all Firefox OS is in reality. Mozilla makes a bunch of claims about how it's "closer to the metal" or some such nonsense, but it isn't. It's not like Android runs all native code in a VM - it's as "close to the metal" as you can get, with the exception that system calls go to the kernel. Just as they do in Firefox OS. Particularly since Firefox OS is built on top of Android.