Will LiveCode run an x86 android device?

[Jan Schenkel]

On Sat, 4/29/17, Richard Gaskin via use-livecode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
>
> [snip]
> 
> I had thought one of the reasons Android uses the Dalvik and ART
> VMs is because they're VMs, separating the APIs from processor architectures.
> 
> If so, then the LC engine for Android is bytecode rather than machine 
> code, and as such should run on either processor architecture, no?
> 

Hi Richard et al,

Actually, LiveCode was not rewritten in Java, nor compiled to Dalvik/ART bytecode.
The engine for Android is largely written in the same C++ as for the other platforms.
And then compiled to native ARM instructions for the specific Android variant of Linux.

Most Android apps are written in Java, and occasionally tap into native code via the Android Native Development Kit (NDK).
Android NDK is the platform-specific implementation of the Java Native Interface (JNI).
Android has multiple Application Binary Interfaces (ABIs) to support various architectures.

ARM Android apps that don't need access to native code can run 'as is' on x86 Android devices.
Those that do need native code, will have to compile separate builds (and may bundle them into a single 'fat' APK).
Or they have to rely on the ARM-on-x86 emulation feature named Houdini.

So LiveCode is a bit of an outsider, as the apps it produces spend little time in the Dalvik/ART virtual machine.
All scripts run in the native portion, and events are funneled from the VM into native code to be handled there.

All this to say: if we want native x86 Android apps, then the LiveCode team will have to crank up the compilers again...

Jan Schenkel.

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