An embedded, object-oriented database management system (OODBMS) has been deemed compatible with the Android mobile device platform. McObject says its open source “Perst” OODBMS for Java objects was verified compliant by the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), the industry group overseeing the… Linux-based phone-stack.

McObject says it is offering free downloads of the open source Perst database, along with complete source code. Also available for download is the Android-ready TestIndex demo application, showing Perst and Android's bundled SQLite database performing the same tasks side by side.

Because Perst stores data directly in Java objects, says the company, there is no need for data-packing or unpacking code to map between the application's data model and the database's data model. With a core consisting of a mere 5,000 lines of code, Perst is said to pose very little impact on system resources. Perst's specialized collection classes optimized for different data layouts and access patterns are said to ease the process of accessing objects.

Perst will provide Android users with embedded software that provides “high performance and a small footprint,” says McObject, which is best known for its ExtremeDB in-memory, real-time database for embedded platforms. McObjects also sells a J2ME (Java 2, Micro Edition) version of Perst called Perst Lite.

Stated Steve Graves, McObject CEO, “With source code available for free download, Perst should be a strong candidate for any Android application that benefits from an embedded database.”

Another object database that supports Java is DB4Objects' db4o, also available for .NET objects. Db4o's release under the GPL in 2004 made it the most popular object database within a year, according to the vendor.

In early November, Google released an “early look” version of its Linux SDK (software development kit) for Android. The Eclipse-based Android SDK lets users write Java applications that run on Dalvik, a virtual machine that runs atop Linux in embedded applications. A hands-on review of the Android SDK can be found here.

The OHA announced that phones based on the “Android” stack should arrive by July.

Availability

Perst is available for free download for both Java SE- and Java ME-based devices, here.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.