65.9 The Android Room Persistence Library

SQLite is, as previously mentioned, written in the C programming language while Android applications are primarily developed using Java or Kotlin. To bridge this “language gap” in the past, the Android SDK included a set of classes that provide a layer on top of the SQLite database management system. Although still available in the SDK, use of these classes still involved writing a considerable amount of code and did not take advantage of the new architecture guidelines and features such as LiveData and lifecycle management. To address these shortcomings, the Android Jetpack Architecture Components include the Room persistent library. This library provides a high level interface on top of the SQLite database system that make it easy to store data locally on Android devices with minimal coding while also conforming to the recommendations for modern application architecture.

The next few chapters will provide an overview and...