Android networking

Question

We are implementing a sever-client architecture and some of the client apps are supposed to run on android OS. The first idea that came to mind was to use java RMI, but the RMI api is obviously not implemented for android.

So 1) Is there a way to use the java RMI api in an android application? Can I just import it from the standard java library? 2) What are the possible substitutes for RMI which will work for both android and desktop applications?

Thanks.

Locris

Answer 1

RMI is a bad solution for anything not stuck on the same subnet. Its terrible at recovering from failures, and with roaming clients.

There are a ton of possible solutions, not limited to

• HTTP REST style, with XML or JSON data
• JSONRPC/XMLRPC
• SOAP (not the best for a performance standpoint)
• Protocol Buffers over sockets (TLS/SSL, please). Consider WebSockets.

Asoka

Well, the thing is that the whole system will function inside a local network, so it is probably safe to say that the server and clients will communicate on the same subnet. Anyway, i will look into the suggested technologies. Thank you. – Locris

I personally would not use it over wireless, or in fact any system on DHCP. I've had far too many headaches of devices rebinding their IP, but RMI not. – Asoka

Answer 2

If using a light weight JAVA/RMI Android implementation is feasible for your particular scenario you can take a look at the links below:

• https://github.com/jorgenpt/lipermi
• http://blog.pastelstudios.com/2012/10/11/poor-mans-rmi-android-java/

Cru