What is context in android?

Question

Why we really need to pass context in some elements and what is the difference between getApplicationContext(), getBaseContext(), MainActivity.this ?

There are many questions here that have the answer you are looking for. Have a look [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3572463/what-is-context-in-android) for the exact same question. Also have a look at answers [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4128589/difference-between-activity-context-and-application-context), [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7298731/when-to-call-activity-context-or-application-context) and [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5018545/getapplication-vs-getapplicationcontext) — ebarrenechea, Feb 21 '13 at 16:04

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

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This was asked and answered several times.

Please see this question: What is Context in Android? and the accepted answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/3572553/1820695

For differences between various Context accessor methods (getApplicationContext(), getBaseContext(), this in Activity, etc.) see this question: Android - what's the difference between the various methods to get a Context?

edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

Community

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answered Feb 21 '13 at 16:04

andr

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Since this doesn't answer the question itself, this ought to be a comment. – Sam Feb 21 '13 at 16:06
@Sam you're most likely right given your rep - it just seemed like a place to list available answers, verified by myself. still, I'll keep that in mind in the future, thanks for pointing that out. – andr Feb 21 '13 at 16:12
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"This was asked and answered several times." should be a comment and a close as duplicate. – njzk2 Feb 21 '13 at 16:13

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

If we go by the documentation

Interface to global information about an application environment. This is an abstract class whose implementation is provided by the Android system. It allows access to application-specific resources and classes, as well as up-calls for application-level operations such as launching activities, broadcasting and receiving intents, etc.

In Simple words its the context of current state of the application/object. It lets newly created objects understand what has been going on. Typically you call it to get information regarding another part of your program (activity, package/application)

For the difference between getApplicationContext() and getBaseContext() please refer this

What is context in android?

2 Answers2