Develop Reference

What is the definition of Android Native Code?

I always see the term android native code here and there but not sure what exactly it is. So which part of android is android native code? Are Application, Activity, Fragment, View, Looper android native code?
More context: I'm trying to understand the shadow in robolectric tests, and in the doc it is said that "Android native code cannot execute on your development machine", so I'm wondering are classes like Application, Activity etc android native code referred here?
http://robolectric.org/extending/

The word native in Android development is overloaded.
Going through link you provided for Robolectric:
There are limitations however:
Native code - Android native code cannot execute on your development machine.
Out of process calls - There are no Android system services running on your development machine.
Inadequate testing APIs - Android includes next to no APIs suitable for testing
Roboletric fills these gaps with a set of classes known as Shadows...
So in this case the Android native code quote either refers to:
The Android Framework classes like Activity,Fragment,View where with only the Android SDK apps needs an emulator or device to run. But Roboletric bring its own Android Framework code which can be 'enhanced' by 'Shadows' for testing apps.
OR
The Android Native Development Kit (NDK) which uses Java Native Interface (JNI) to allow Java/Kotlin code to access C/C++ code for performance or compatibility reasons. So with Roboletric you can't call into JNI code, or at least not without some effort.
Later that same page:
Using byte code instrumentation Robolectric is able to weave in cross platform fake implementations to substitute for native code and add additional APIs to make testing possible.
The substitute for native code refers to Java/Kotlin APIs belonging to the Android Framework which Roboletric is substituting for to provide a test environment. Again, those would be the Activity, Fragment, View, etc. you were referring to.
The usage of the term 'native' in this case is similar a developer using a third-party app building framework like 'React Native', 'Ionic', 'Flutter', 'Xamarian', or 'Cordova/Phonegap', they may use a custom component written in Java/Kotlin as a native component to achieve some function which can only be done by direct interaction with the Android Framework but not in the language/API of that third-party framework like Javascript, Dart, or C#.
Java and its kin (Kotlin, Scala, etc.) refers to calling C/C++ code as native via the Java Native Interface (JNI) and on Android is facilitated by the Native Development Kit (NDK). Third party app development frameworks that sit on top of the mobile framework will refer to calls into the original mobile framework as "native".
Sadly as this is part of the terminology used in mobile development so a careful reading of the use of the word "native" is required.
Personally I would prefer if documentation using the word native included the language like native Java/Kotlin APIs or native C/C++ APIs as the first instance in the linked page had me going back and forth about the author's meaning.
Follow up to questions in comments
You mentioned that "they may use a custom component written in Java/Kotlin as a native component", you are referring to Activity, Fragment etc when saying custom component, right?
In that particular section I was referring to third-party app frameworks calling into classes that are Android Framework or directly call parts of it. Normally those third-party app frameworks already wrap/expose Activity, View, etc. but you as a developer may need a library or other custom Java/Kotlin code which can be invoked by the third-party app framework language (Javascript, Dart, C#). From the perspective of the third party app framework the 'wrapped Java/Kotlin library' is a native component as it is "native" to the mobile environment. That wrapped library code isn't written in Javascript, Dart or C#. Again the meaning of "native" is overloaded.
In the first paragraph of link, the author is emphasizing that we will run "real Android code" in robolectric. But as we analyzed, robolectric is shadowing the basic building block like Activity, Fragment, which seems contradictory to me, so the only explanation I can think of is that the ShadowActivity is wrapping the original implementation of real Activity, do you think that is the case?
Yes, the ShadowActivity is "wrapping" the original implementation of real Activity, I would take note that the author states: Shadow objects are not quite Proxies, not quite Fakes, not quite Mocks or Stubs.
It is important that shadow methods are implemented on the corresponding shadow of the class in which they were originally defined. Otherwise Robolectric’s lookup mechanism will not find them (even if they have been declared on a shadow subclass.)
and
Shadow class inheritance hierarchy does not always mirror that of their associated Android classes, it is sometimes necessary to make calls through these real objects so that the Robolectric runtime will have the opportunity to route them to the correct Shadow class based on the actual class of the object
So regular Java inheritance isn't quite the correct mental model for Shadows.

Android native code is not Java or Kotlin. It is not some classes like Activity or Fragment. Android native code is C/C++. Here is a bit of info about SDK(NDK).
And here you can find general overview of NDK(native development kit).
Hope it helps.

Difference between writing OpenCV for Android(Mobile devices) and writing openCV for Desktop Application(OpenCV 2.4.3 usingC++)

I was doing face detection and recognition project.I am about to finish the application which does detection and recognition. I want to make this application portable like a one that works on Mobile devices. I am new to writing codes using OpenCV on Androids. What is the difference between OpenCV codes for Android phones and OpenCV written for Desktop application using C++ on Visual Studio like VS 2010 with Open CV 2.4.3?(What is the difference between Codes between OpenCV on Android and OpenCV for Desktop.Do they both use the same language?)
I am familiar with Android(basics) and true that Android applications are written with Java. And i read somewhere online that OpenCV native codes can be included to Android with Java Native Interface.
I am a bit confused here that can i use the code i have written using C++ Open CV for my Android Application with out modification.If not what Kind of modification do i have to make on my face detection and recognition using C++ for Desktop to make it work for Android phones?

First off, there exists an OpenCV4Android version of Android, with tutorials on how to use it.
Then, as you pointed out, you can code both in Java or C++ on Android. OpenCV4Android can be used in Java [1] or in C++ [2]. In your case, it would probably be more convenient to re-use your C++ code, using the Native Development Kit for Android. If you manage to use the NDK, you will be able to re-use your C++ code by calling it from your Android app.
Here are the few steps I would advise you to follow:
Read about the Native Development Kit
Read about the Java Native Interface
Try to create a sample Android app using C++ (You might find this quickstart tutorial useful)
Try to integrate OpenCV to your sample [2]
Include your existing C++ code in your sample
I hope it will help.

I used OpenCV on Android using both Java and C++. From my experience, I can suggest to use Native C++ code for image processing application. C++ codes are more efficient and can give more identical result as compared to Java code.
Although OpenCV has the Java version also, but in the back-end, it is using Native code for running Java.
The speed of execution in Native code will be much high as compared to Java code.

C++ File adding

Can anyone please tell me how to add a C++ file in to an android project? Is there any method to import classes other than java classes?

The answer is that, you can't really add a C++ file directly to a project, but you can compile it and load it into the code that runs in your process and interface to it using the JNI. This is a way to interface native code to Java. However, be aware that you can't really do that much with the JNI. Getting access to standard Android things like UI, Intents, service connections, etc.., these are all somewhat more difficult to use in native code. And you certainly can't take a UNIX app "off the shelf" and stick it on Android by using the JNI. this is a fairly good looking tutorial on the JNI with Android. However, like I said, using the JNI is not an excuse for learning java and the Android SDK. The main reasons people use native code are for utility code (like crypto stuff) and performance (for example, quite a few Android games use the NDK)..

You have to use android NDK. Just download it and refer from android official site.

C++ library for mobile application

I have my own C++ library with source code. It contains functions like this: CreateDvice, FillDevice, CloseDevice and etc. There is no dependency to any third-party libraries.
There is requirement to create application for mobile platform:
Blackberry
iPhone
Android
The application has to use logic provided by this library.
Is there chance to use existing library in mobile application or at least some of them?
Or does it require to re-implement library code for each platform?

For iOS (iPhone/iPad) you can directly compile your library and use it from a regular iOS app written in Objective-C++ and/or C++.
For Android you can directly compile your library using the NDK, then either write your app in Java and call your library via JNI, or write the whole app in C++ using the NDK.
I believe you are out of luck on Blackberry, for this platform you'll need to rewrite your library in Java, as neither apps or libs can be written in C++.
Edit: See my other answer for a completely different approach that may work for you.

Blackberry:
It's technically possible to have ASM on BlackBerry (or Android, iPhone, etc.) but 3rd-party developers are often not allowed (or not able in the case of BlackBerry) to do so.
iPhone:
Absolutely. You can statically link a C++ library. Of course it will have to be compiled with the right instruction set. There are a host of examples out there on how to do this. Translate - you will need the code.
Android:
Absolutely. There is a good book on this by Mark Murphy. Introductory material here:
http://www.androidguys.com/2009/10/14/android-beyond-java-part-one/

Your question is unclear. Do you need a cross-platform library/engine to create a mobile application?
If it is so, Cocos2D would be the best choice. Originally it's a game engine, but it is suitable for applications too. And it supports all the platforms written above.

Instead of compiling your C++ library on each target device that you intend to support, you could opt for creating a service that packs your library. You can install this library on a host you have control, then from each platform the only thing you need to do is invoke this service.
I'm not sure if this thing makes sense for the kind of library that you have, but this would be a way to maintain a single version of your library, and you'll have a guaranteed same behavior on all devices.
Good luck.

Android is not natively Java, it's natively C++. And iOS is also natively C++. So why not just leave the C++ code untouched and drop RIM's current platform (since they are switching to BBX which does support C++ as well).

For Blackberry you can use the C++/Qt Cascades; for iOS you can use C/C++ & Objective-C (a superset of C) and Android can use the C++ NDK. You can use Java on all platforms as long as the Java apps are standalone and the JRE is pre-packaged with the app (iOS). You can interface with C/C++ libs using JNI

If you want to use a Java library on all platforms, that would work.
Android and Blackberry are natively Java.
You can use a tool called XMLVM to cross-compile your Java library to Objective C for use on iOS.
http://xmlvm.org/overview/
It is not 100% perfect, but pretty darn close. We use it extensively to port common Java library code to iOS. Port the C++ library to Java and you are good to go.

How to create C++ class in android project via Eclipse?

In order for reuse ability on iOS, I would like to write the logic for my Android game in C++ rather than java. How can I create a C++ class in eclipse and integrate it into my application?
I have read "native C++ code can be used on Android as well using the Native Development Kit (NDK)". What is the latest and greatest way to do this? I am writing a simple OpenGL app? Are there any tutorials out there that people have found useful?
Thanks very much.

Investigate using the JNI and NDK here:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/index.html

I have written a multi platform 2D engine that runs on a fair amount of platforms. It's possible to do though not relatively easy to implement.
The way I did it was split it up in 2 parts where I used Java for the Activity lifecycle and some additional assist functionality and library encapsulated C++ code for all the rest.
For the C++ I used the JNI where I had two shared libraries. One library held the core logic that ran the entire game and then the other library was a sort of passthrough library with a couple of methods that were called from Java. This way, I could just recompile the core library on each platform without a lot of difficulties and I could rewrite the UI section for each platform. On iOS, I wrote it in Obj-C, on android in Java and on Windows in C/C++.