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CURIOUS CREATURE

Android · Graphics & UI · 2012-12-18

The Android UI Rendering Pipeline

Follow work from measure and layout through display-list recording, rasterization, and composition to locate the stage that misses the frame budget.

01

Define the geometry

State bounds, coordinate space, clipping, density, and transformation order before styling the result.

02

Control state

Keep mutable drawing state local and make invalidation follow the smallest region or subtree that actually changed.

03

Watch the budget

Reuse objects in hot draw paths, inspect overdraw, and test on a device where missed frames are visible.

Working rule

Make the next measurement cheaper than the next argument.

Keep a minimal reproduction close to the observation. Change one variable at a time, preserve the failing path, and prefer before-and-after evidence over a broad rewrite.