Do Android version code constants work with older versions?

Question

Can I use Android version code constants with older Android runtimes? For instance,

if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 
   android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) ...

would this run without crash on old devices running Android operating system before HONEYCOMB when this constant has been first defined? Assuming we compile it with recent enough SDK?

Answer 1

Yes, this will work.

The reason for this is that android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB is an int. android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB is just an alias (the int equals 11) for 11, as can be seen in an IDE such as Eclipse:

int android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB = 11 [0xb]

So this will work as it'll just check if the android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT is greater than or equal to 11.

Answer 2

Yes you can. It works because the int values are static final. The compiler will inline them into the bytecode at compile time. No symbol import is required at runtime.