AOSP Insider · Platform Engineering Roadmap
The AOSP Roadmap
An interactive guide to mastering AOSP. Track your progression from the application layer down through framework, runtime, HAL, and Linux kernel.
Flow→→→→→→→→→→→→
13 phases30 stages187 topics
Core topicAlso seeTap a topic to mark it learned0 / 187 learned
I
Prerequisites
The languages, tools, and review workflow every AOSP contribution runs through.
Language & Tooling Basics
The languages, tools, and review workflow every AOSP contribution runs through.
CORE ALSO SEE II
AOSP Foundations
What AOSP is, how to get and build it, and a 10,000-foot view of the stack before going deep anywhere.
AOSP Landscape & Versioning
What AOSP actually is, and how its releases are named and tracked.
CORE ALSO SEE Getting the Source
Pulling down a multi-hundred-repo tree and knowing where things live.
CORE ALSO SEE Building & Running a Device
Turning source into a bootable, signed build you can flash or emulate.
CORE ALSO SEE How the Build System Works
What actually runs when you type `m` — from Blueprint to Ninja.
CORE ALSO SEE Android Architecture Overview
The whole stack in one picture — kernel to apps — not in deep yet.
CORE ALSO SEE Partition Layouts
Where code physically lives on the device, and how updates swap it safely.
CORE ALSO SEE III
Application Layer
Starting at the top — what an app is, and what kind of app it's allowed to be.
App Types, Partitions & Permissions
Not all apps are equal — system, vendor, and product apps play by different rules.
CORE ALSO SEE App Components & Lifecycle
The building blocks every Android app — and every system app — is made of.
CORE ALSO SEE IV
Framework & System Services
One layer down — the services every app quietly depends on.
Framework Overview & Existing Services
The layer that turns kernel primitives into APIs apps can call.
CORE ALSO SEE Binder, AIDL & Custom System Services
How services talk across processes, and how to build your own.
CORE ALSO SEE V
Resource System
How the framework decides what to draw, in which language, on which device.
Resource System
How UI, strings, and even the boot animation get compiled, resolved, and overridden.
CORE ALSO SEE VI
Runtime & Native Layer
One layer lower still — where bytecode executes and native code takes over.
Android Runtime (ART)
How your app's bytecode actually executes, and who cleans up after it.
CORE ALSO SEE JNI, NDK & Native Services
Where Java/Kotlin code crosses into C/C++, and native daemons live.
CORE ALSO SEE VII
Android Booting Process
The synthesis — every piece above, in the order it actually boots.
Android Booting Process
From power-on to a launcher on screen — the full sequence, assembled.
CORE ALSO SEE VIII
Process, Memory & Power Management
How the OS keeps everything above alive, fed, and awake only when needed.
Process, Memory & Power Management
How Android decides what stays alive, what gets killed, and what sleeps.
CORE ALSO SEE IX
HAL, Kernel & Vendor Interface
The floor — where AOSP ends and silicon-specific code begins.
HAL, Kernel & Vendor Interface
The seam between the OS and the silicon it runs on, kept stable across updates.
CORE ALSO SEE X
Hardware Subsystems
The device's senses and output — graphics, sound, camera, input, radios, display.
Graphics Stack
From a drawn pixel to photons — compositing, buffers, and the display pipeline.
CORE ALSO SEE Audio Architecture
How sound gets from an app to a speaker, and back from a mic.
CORE ALSO SEE Camera Architecture
The pipeline from image sensor to a Camera2/CameraX app.
CORE ALSO SEE Input System
From a raw kernel event to a tap your app receives.
CORE ALSO SEE Connectivity
The radios — WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular, NFC — and how the framework talks to them.
CORE ALSO SEE Display System
The panel, backlight, and refresh-rate pipeline beneath the compositor — where applicable to your device.
CORE ALSO SEE XI
Debugging, Security & Testing
Diagnosing, locking down, and certifying a build.
Debugging & Tracing
The daily toolkit — this stage never really ends.
CORE ALSO SEE Security
How Android contains apps, processes, and vendors from each other.
CORE ALSO SEE Testing & Compliance
What separates a personal build from a certifiable one.
CORE ALSO SEE XII
Customization & Production
Branding a device and shipping it to real users.
Customization
Making a build recognizably yours.
CORE ALSO SEE OTA Updates & Release Engineering
How a fleet of devices gets updated without bricking half of them.
CORE ALSO SEE Production Engineering & Contribution
Getting code upstream, and keeping a shipped build fast and stable.
CORE ALSO SEE XIII
Career Readiness
Turning the map into interview-ready depth.
Career Readiness
Where the whole roadmap gets tested back to you.
CORE ALSO SEE