[General Topics] applegrew:
I keep getting bombarded with so many jargon on this forum. So this list is to help out the many noobs like me.

List of jargon:-

(Also to help other noobs like me, I am also including the ones whose meanings I have figured out. Pls feel free to correct me. I am a noob after all. :p)

[I have bolded the ones for which I need info.]

MOD - Short for MODified. This is a commonly used jargon in gaming and mobile.

CM - Cyanogen Mod - A modified version of Android with unique features.

AOSP - Android Open Source Project - The official Android which is the base for CM and is also used by the phone manufacturers.

FXP - Free Xperia Project (http://freexperiaproject.com) - A version of CM, specially maintained for Xperia phones.

CWM - Clock Work Mod - Used to provide Recovery mode.

Kernel - The lower part of the Android OS. Actually this is not part of Android. On stock phones, this provided by the phone manufacturers. This allows manufacturers to go wild about their hardware and use their proprietary hardware technologies w/o disclosing that to Android. Android needs a predetermined set of APIs from the kernel to work.

ROM - Traditionally ROM stood for Read Only Memory, which were only flashable once. However, in current context it is not like that. This is the Android OS we know. This interacts with the hardware via the kernel. All app and user managements is carried out by this.

GAPPS - Google APPS. Namely - Google Play, Gmail, etc.

MDPI - Phones with Medium DPI resolution. DPI is Dots Per Inch. So this denotes the screen pixel density. Note, screen density and screen size are independent concepts. MDPI is about 160dpi. This is the average.

JB - Jelly Bean - The latest version of Android. Android 4.1 and 4.2 (latest) are both versions of Jelly Bean.

ICS - Ice Cream Sandwich - Version 4.0.x of Android.

GB - Ginger Bread - Version 2.3.x of Android.

FC - Force Close - When an app hangs and closed forcibly or it crashes.

Kang - Means stolen. However, since open source codes cannot be "stolen", so in this context it becomes - unofficial.

AOKP - Android Open Kang Project - Similar to CM, this is another port of Android with many crazy features like you can customize the LED color based on notifications of your choosing.

Dalvik - Android has a built-in Java Virtual Machine which it uses to run the Apps. (The apps are coded in Java.) Dalvik is an Android port of SUN (now Oracle) JVM. This was the thing for which Oracle sued Google.

APK - This is the extension of the Android apps. This is a package (actually a zip file) with all the app related files.

Odex - A pre-optimized file in the app's APK which the Dalvik VM can directly run. See SO and this thread.

Deodex - APK packages have classes.dex file, which has all the Java classes needed to run the app. This is a deodex file. First time when the app is launched, Dalvik VM needs to parse this file and create an optimized version of it, which it runs. That file is kept inside Dalvik Cache. See SO and this thread.

Dalvik Cache - Contains the optimized versions of the deodex files. More info at - this thread.

Additional jargon lists and references:-

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