On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 4:51 PM, Jake Colman <[email protected]> wrote: > Getting back to the original topic, so a Content Provider is a good > paradigm to use across the board even if the database is only meant to > be used internally?
Kostya is pro-ContentProvider. I'm far less of a fan. Notably: -- Data-change notification is helpful, and becomes increasingly helpful with more complex applications. Simple apps, though, can just requery their Cursors when they do a database change, and result is a savings in code complexity, since ContentProviders don't write themselves. -- Data URls are no more useful than other forms of primary key, except in relatively unusual circumstances (e.g., the recipient of the Uri really isn't using the Uri but is merely passing it along to activities that are keyed to the ContentProvider's MIME type). The costs of a ContentProvider are: -- You leak database connections (i.e., there is no place to close your SQLiteDatabase). -- The limited API that Kostya mentions, so much of makes a relational database worthwhile is tossed out. -- They are *world readable and writable by default*, so developers that fail to put android:exported="false" on their <provider> elements in the manifest make their data available for all other apps on the device, purely by accident. If you like the benefits and don't mind the costs, feel free to use a ContentProvider. It's one of the more contentious architectural areas in Android, with its proponents and detractors, so on the whole I don't think there is a consensus "right" or "wrong" answer. -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com | http://github.com/commonsguy http://commonsware.com/blog | http://twitter.com/commonsguy Android 3.0 Programming Books: http://commonsware.com/books -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
