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Android Needs a Simulator, Not an Emulator
An anonymous reader writes Jake Wharton, Android Engineer at Square, has written an article about one of the big problems with building apps for Android: developers need a simulator for testing their software, rather than an emulator. He provides an interesting, technical explanation of the difference between them, and why the status quo is not working. Here are the basics of his article: "A simulator is a shim that sits between the Android operating system runtime and the computer's running operating system. It bridges the two into a single unit which behaves closely to how a real device or full emulator would at a fraction of the overhead. The most well known simulator to any Android developer is probably (and ironically) the one that iOS developers use from Apple. The iPhone and iPad simulators allow quick, easy, and lightweight execution of in-development apps. ... There always will be a need for a proper emulator for acceptance testing your application in an environment that behaves exactly like a device. For day-to-day development this is simply not needed. Developer productivity will rise dramatically and the simplicity through which testing can now be done will encourage their use and with any luck improve overall app quality. Android actually already has two simulators which are each powerful in different ways, but nowhere near powerful enough."
Android is available for x86 these days and you can use hardware acceleration (CPU and GPU). Just set it up and get near-native performance. Or if you have an Android phone just `adb install -r blah.apk` what more can you want?
You clearly need to get your terminology straight.
What you describe as a "bridge" is more like a house for homeless people.
But simulator is the correct terminology... the way you might want to implement it doesn't make any difference.
Very much in Android, including application code, is not Java.
Great. Now, do you have a spare tablet around for every target android version?
This is the general problem with Android in any case, since versions are not kept up to date on all devices, not all devices have the same resolution, CPU capabilities, graphics performance, input devices, cameras, accelerometer, GPS hardware, touch screen capability, keyboards, and so on and so on.
You will always need to test on the actual hardware to be sure your monster Intel box and nVidia video cards aren't giving you a false idea of how fast your app is, or that your app doesn't suck, or that it'll work with a particular device.
If you need hit over the head with a clue bat, ask Roxio how they do it for Angry Birds testing.
Yes. You can step through the code on your device from your pc. (Even if connected over wifi. Which is nice, when it works, but it's a little flakey. It's solid over USB though).
I should note that I do not do game development; I've no experience in writing apps with high performance 2d/3d graphics.
Well, then, when you try doing those things you'll understand why my comment is true.
Well, I won't. I have five games in the App Store and I have always used the simulator for development. It works very well. For me, it is VERY rare that something works on one while not working on the other.