A symbol is a 4-tuple containing a resource type, a name, a java type and a value. Symbols are
used to refer to Android resources.
A resource type identifies the group or resource. Resources in Android can have various
types: * drawables, strings, etc.
The name of the symbol has to be a valid java identifier and is usually
the file name of the resource (without the extension) or the name of the resource if the
resource is part of an XML file.
For example, the resource
drawable/foo.png has name
foo. The string
bar in file
values/strings.xml with name
bar has resource name
bar.
The java type is the java data type that contains the resource value. This is generally
be
int, but other values (such as
int[]) are allowed. This class poses no
restrictions on the type other that it may not contain any spaces.
The value is a java expression that conforms to the resource type and contains the value of
the resource. This may be just an integer like
3, if the resource has type
int.
But may be a more complex expression. For example, if the resource has type
int[],
the value may be something such as
{1, 2, 3}}.
In practice, symbols do not exist by themselves. They are usually part of a symbol table,
but this class is independent of any use.