When to use a Content Provider

Question

I understand that Content Providers are made to allow publicly sharing data between applications. However, I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts about making a Content Provider to use just within your own app. Would there be any advantages to doing this? Any disadvantages?

In the past I've just implemented the SQliteOpenHelper to access data from my database, but I'm considering creating a Content Provider. I feel like the URI approach to requesting data is clear and concise. On the other hand, will using a Content Provider just for my application be redundant ( since within it I will have a SQliteOpenHelper class ) and more work than I need?

Answer 1

I would argue it is definitely a good idea to use a ContentProvider even if you don't intend to make it public.

It's good practice to provide the extra level of abstraction over your data to make it easier to change internally. What if you decide to change the underlying database structure at a later time? If you use a ContentProvider you can contain all the structural changes within it, where as if you don't use one, you are forced to change all areas of the code that are affected by the structural changes. Besides, it's nice to be able to re-use the same standard API for accessing data rather than littering your code with low-level access to the database.

Also, there is always the chance that you might want to expose your data in the future. If you don't use a ContentProvider up front, it will be much harder to retrofit it in at a later date.

Then, there's the other parts of the Android where ContentProvider's are required/recommended such as when using SyncAdapters and if you want an App Widget that involves data access for instance.

In summary, there is very little overhead involved in writing a ContentProvider up front (once you have learned the API which is a good idea anyway) so it makes sense to do so, even for private data.