Write applications in C or C++ for Android?

Question

I'm trying to develop/port a game to Android, but it's in C, and Android supports Java, but I'm sure there must be a way to get a C app on there, anyone knows of a way to accomplish this?

The G1 doesn't allow root access by default, and there are a lot of restrictions in place regarding what can be executed outside of the 'Android' environment. I wouldn't have much hope finding a way to execute native code from within Android. — Cogsy, Jun 16 '09 at 15:23
but I've downloaded DOOM for Android from the marketplace. So it should be doable — Robert Gould, Jun 16 '09 at 15:33
Make your Application a shell the holds a compilre and source. On first launch compile your application on the Android Phone and then execute. — Martin York, Jun 16 '09 at 17:46
DOOM for Android is written in Java http://code.google.com/p/doom-for-android/source/browse/#svn/trunk — Marco Mustapic, Jun 26 '09 at 01:07
@Marco M. Wow, is all I can say. Can't believe somone would ave rewritten it, but it seems your right!!! — Robert Gould, Jun 26 '09 at 07:27
@Robert Gould, many people have re-written DOOM, I personally know of 2 people who have done so. Its open source, so its a good project for people starting off in games programming as they can see how it was originally done as a reference (plus, it gives them something to aim for and something rather flashy to show off at the end). — Grant Peters, Jul 30 '10 at 06:47
you can also use [C++ builder](http://www.embarcadero.com/landing-pages/try-cbuilder-usca?cid=701G0000000w6kB&gclid=Cj0KEQjwk7msBRCJj67khY2z_NIBEiQAPTFjv7z5NGkTsUEycHYYHqEh2LsiP016cwpieUFRus1jLtUaAiQn8P8HAQ) — A-Sharabiani, Jun 27 '15 at 21:48

score 250 · Accepted Answer · edited May 29 '16 at 05:26

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For anyone coming to this via Google, note that starting from SDK 1.6 Android now has an official native SDK.

You can download the Android NDK (Native Development Kit) from here: https://developer.android.com/ndk/downloads/index.html

Also there is an blog post about the NDK:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/06/introducing-android-15-ndk-release-1.html

edited May 29 '16 at 05:26

Jonathan Leffler

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answered Oct 15 '09 at 11:00

Andy Johnson

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OK, so now how about C# and .Net?-) – Avi Oct 28 '09 at 07:34
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Can't see .net support ever happening – vickirk Jan 18 '10 at 21:45
@vickirk why not? Mono was ported to the iPhone. – Prof. Falken Jan 18 '10 at 22:44
I was talking about the android SDK, sure there is nothing stopping third parties porting it to android phones. – vickirk Jan 19 '10 at 09:24
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@Avi http://mono-android.net – Tomas Andrle Apr 12 '11 at 14:44
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Please refer to this link http://androidsnippets.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/how-to-run-execute-native-c-code-in-android-using-ndk-in-linux-ubuntu-operating-system/ – KK_07k11A0585 Aug 31 '12 at 06:28
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for .net / c# code and android check out xamarin – bbqchickenrobot Nov 16 '12 at 07:48

MannyNS · Answer 2 · 2017-07-11T13:16:55.700

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The Android NDK is a toolset that lets you implement parts of your app in native code, using languages such as C and C++. For certain types of apps, this can help you reuse code libraries written in those languages.

For more info on how to get started with native development, follow this link.

Sample applications can be found here.

edited Jul 11 '17 at 13:16

answered Jun 25 '09 at 23:39

MannyNS

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or 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 or 2013 – Christopher Berman Sep 23 '14 at 22:14

psihodelia · Answer 3 · 2012-03-06T16:47:49.903

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Normally, you have to:

Install Google Android NDK. It contains libs, headers, makfile examples and gcc toolchain
Build an executable from your C code for ARM, optimize and link it with provided libs if required
Connect to a phone using provided adb interface and test your executable

If you are looking to sell an app:

Build a library from your C code
Create simple Java code which will use this library
Embed this library into application package file
Test your app
Sell it or distribute it for free

edited Mar 06 '12 at 16:47

answered Feb 16 '11 at 10:03

psihodelia

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i am a new in NDK and i want to run C lan in Android.have any ref link? – Parag Chauhan May 19 '12 at 20:20

score 14 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 18 '09 at 15:03

Google has released a Native Development Kit (NDK) (according to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5whfaLH1-E at 00:07:30).

Hopefully the information will be updated on the google groups page (http://groups.google.com/group/android-ndk), as it says it hasn't been released yet.

I'm not sure where to get a simple download for it, but I've heard that you can get a copy of the NDK from Google's Git repository under the donut branch.

score 12 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 16 '09 at 15:45

The official position seems to be that this isn't something you'd ever "want to do". See this thread on the Android Developers list. Google envisage android running on a variety of different devices (CPUs, displays, etc). The best way to enable development is therefore to use (portable) managed code that targets the Dalvik VM. For this reason, the Android SDK doesn't support C/C++.

BUT, take a look at this page:

Android includes a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components of the Android system. These capabilities are exposed to developers through the Android application framework.

The managed application framework appears to be layered on-top of these libraries. The page goes on to list the C/C++ libs: standard C library, media, 3D, SQL lite, and others.

So all you need is a compiler chain that will compile C/C++ to the appropriate CPU (ARM, in the case of the G1). Some brief instructions on how to do this are here.

What I don't know is where to find descriptions of the APIs that these libraries provide. I'd guess there may be header files buried in the SDK somewhere, but documentation may be sketchy/missing. But I think it can be done!

Hope thats useful. For the record, I haven't written any native android apps - just a few simple managed ones.

Andy

The NDK appears to be an official compiler for Android native code now. Making this answer obsolete. — unixman83, Apr 23 '12 at 22:18

score 8 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 27 '09 at 23:25

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You can use nestedvm to translate C (or other GCC languages) into Java bytecode, and use that as the basis of your port. For example, see the Android port of Simon Tathams portable puzzle collection.

I expect this method is made obsolete by the NDK, but it might not be in if some networks or something don't allow people to upgrade their phones.

answered Oct 27 '09 at 23:25

rjmunro

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+1 for an alternative to the NDK, even though the NDK makes it obsolete. – tobsen Jun 30 '10 at 20:52
Isn't nestedvm compatible with more devices? – charo Jan 30 '17 at 14:11

Jeegar Patel · Answer 7 · 2015-01-03T07:09:13.840

Google has already launched Google I/O 2011: Bringing C and C++ Games to Android session which is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yorhsSPFG4

which is good to understand the use of NDK for writing application in c and c++ for android.

If you just want to cross compile any console based native game and run them on android then this Article has shown 3 methods for the same.

1: Static compilation using standalone toolchain

2: Cross compilation using Android NDK’s toolchain

3: Cross compilation using AOSP source code

score 7 · Answer 8 · edited May 29 '16 at 05:42

Looking at this it seems it is possible:

http://openhandsetmagazine.com/2007/11/running-c-native-applications-on-android-the-final-point/ (now only available via the WayBack Machine)

"the fact is only Java language is supported doesn’t mean that you cannot develop applications in other languages. This have been proved by many developers, hackers and experts in application development for mobile. The guys at Elements Interactive B.V., the company behind Edgelib library, succeeded to run native C++ applications on the Android platform, even that at this time there is still many issues on display and sound … etc. This include the S-Tris2 game and a 3D animation demo of Edgelib."

score 7 · Answer 9 · answered Oct 11 '10 at 23:22

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Maybe you are looking for this?

http://www.mosync.com/

It is a middle layer for developing for several mobile platforms using c++.

answered Oct 11 '10 at 23:22

joepal

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link is 404 not found. It is always a good idea to put in some content from the original post into the answer in case the site owner wins the lottery, divorces his wife and moves to Bahamas. – Zuzlx Sep 08 '15 at 23:19

zkunov · Answer 10 · 2011-07-02T08:29:18.010

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Since 2009 there is a development on this matter.
Necessitas - Qt(C++ framework) for Android
Getting started video.

edited Jul 02 '11 at 08:29

answered Jul 02 '11 at 08:08

zkunov

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Good point. Just as an extra note, Necessitas uses the Android NDK. – Jaime Ivan Cervantes Feb 28 '13 at 16:23

Gordon Freeman · Answer 11 · 2009-06-26T08:29:12.837

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Take a look at google ndk group it looks promising, first version of the NDK will be available in 1H2009.

Update: And it is released http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/06/introducing-android-15-ndk-release-1.html

edited Jun 26 '09 at 08:29

answered Jun 16 '09 at 21:26

Gordon Freeman

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score 5 · Answer 12 · answered Aug 20 '10 at 02:35

I'm not sure the NDK provides full coverage of the official Java API.

From http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/index.html#overview :

Please note that the NDK does not enable you to develop native-only applications. Android's primary runtime remains the Dalvik virtual machine.

score 3 · Answer 13 · answered Jun 26 '09 at 13:28

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Google just released the NDK which allows exactly that.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/hsDu/~3/2foWz7hwFtE/introducing-android-15-ndk-release-1.html

It can be found here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/1.5_r1/index.html

answered Jun 26 '09 at 13:28

Alexander Stolz

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score 2 · Answer 14 · answered Jun 16 '09 at 15:41

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This blog post may be a good start: http://benno.id.au/blog/2007/11/13/android-native-apps Unfortunately, lots of the important stuff is "left as an exercise to the reader".

answered Jun 16 '09 at 15:41

Krzysiek Goj

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score 2 · Answer 15 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Native C/c++ Files libstdc++.* from your Ubuntu are x86 (or x86_64) binaries but Android devices and emulators are ARM. Of course, this will not work anyway, even if you'll set correct soname. This is very naive way which leads nowhere. Android has very limited support of C++ meaning there is no exceptions, standard C++ library (including STL) and RTTI. If you need such functionality, use my custom NDK distribution from

http://crystax.net/android/ndk.php - it support full C++ features listed above.

Why is there error: undefined reference to '__cxa_end_cleanup' link error. Android stlport

time. Because there is no link to libstdc + +. A. So wrong.

Because it uses some static library, it is necessary to link the full libstdc + +. A. Can

http://crystax.net/android/ndk.php here to download the package

sources \ cxx-stl \ gnu-libstdc + + \ libs \ armeabi directory.

Android on its own libstdc + + support is limited, it must be linked to a complete libstdc + +. A the job.

Add file in Android.mk LOCAL_LDFLAGS = $ (LOCAL_PATH) / libs / libcurl.a \

 $ (LOCAL_PATH) / libs / liblua.a \
 `$ (LOCAL_PATH) / libs / libstdc + +. A`

And LOCAL_CPPFLAGS + =-lstdc + +-fexceptions can be compiled

score 2 · Answer 16 · edited Dec 01 '11 at 23:04

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I do not know a tutorial but a good development tool: Airplay SDK from Ideaworks Labs. (Recently rebranded "Marmelade") Using C/C++ you can build apps for Windows Mobile, iPhones, Android. The only component I didn't like was the GUI composer - a buggy one, but you always can substitute it with the Notepad.

edited Dec 01 '11 at 23:04

AShelly

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answered Dec 01 '11 at 22:42

zergius

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score 2 · Answer 17 · answered Jan 19 '12 at 16:12

You can download c4droid and then install the GCC plugin and install to your SD. From the shell I just traverse to the directory where the GCC binary is and then call it to make an on board executable.

find / -name gcc

/mnt/sdcard/Android/data/com.n0n3m4.droidc/files/gcc/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-gcc

cat > test.c

#include<stdio.h>
int main(){ 
 printf("hello arm!\n");
return 0;
}

./arm-linux-androideabi-gcc test.c -o test

./test

hello arm!

score 2 · Answer 18 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:10

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This three steps are good to have and store in this post.

1) How to port native c code on android

2) http://www.integratingstuff.com/2010/12/12/calling-native-c-code-through-jni-in-android-applications/

3) http://mindtherobot.com/blog/452/android-beginners-ndk-setup-step-by-step/

edited May 23 '17 at 12:10

Community

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answered Feb 11 '12 at 21:33

score 1 · Answer 19 · answered Jun 17 '09 at 19:49

There is a plan to allow C/C++ libraries in the next SDK version of Android (Codename Eclair?)To date, it's not possible through the Android Java SDK. However, you can grab the HUGE open source project, roll your own libraries, and then flash your own device...but anyone who wants to use your library will have to flash your custom build as well.

score -7 · Answer 20 · answered Jun 16 '09 at 15:55

Short answer: You can't.

@Backslash17: Looking through the article and the following link with installation instructions, all the company got working is to launch a self compiled executable on the emulator, bypassing the android framework. Once you have the emulator you can telnet in and have a linux shell. Running a linux program there is trivial of course. But that's not working for phones without jailbreak(aka root access) and not deliverable on the market.

Unless Google opens other opportunities or someone writes a custom compiler that compiles Language X into Dalvik bytecode (Dalvik is the VM that runs Android programs) you won't be able to write native code.

Right, that's why I wrote "It seems...". See to believe! – backslash17 Jun 16 '09 at 16:53 — backslash17, Jun 16 '09 at 16:53

Write applications in C or C++ for Android?

20 Answers20

find / -name gcc

cat > test.c

./arm-linux-androideabi-gcc test.c -o test

./test

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