Native Development Kit or how to develop with native code when needed

Using Native Development Kit (NDK) can mean sometimes the difference between a performing application or an application that just does its job. We will generally use NDK in the following contexts:

• Use of existing C/C++ libraries: This is an obvious advantage, since you have access to powerful existing software such as OpenCV1, audio encoders, and so on.
• Performance: For some critical inner loops, the marginal performance advantage of C/C++ over Java, especially before Just-In-Time compilation (JIT) is available in the Android compiler, may be a deciding factor.
• To do something that the NDK allows that the Java API can't manage: Low-level operations close to the hardware, particularly to impact manufacturer-specific hardware, might only be possible through C/C++.
• Obfuscation: Compiled code is somehow more difficult to reverse-engineer than Java bytecode. Security by obscurity is, however, not the ideal solution, but it can complement your already existing system.