Let's face the fact that one of the main interests of Android NDK is to write multimedia applications and games. Indeed, these programs consume lots of resources and need responsiveness. That is why one of the first available APIs (and almost the only one until recently) in Android NDK is an API for graphics: the Open Graphics Library for Embedded Systems (abbreviated as OpenGL ES).

OpenGL is a standard API created by Silicon Graphics and is now managed by the Khronos Group (see http://www.khronos.org/). OpenGL provides a common interface for all standard GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit like your graphics card, and so on) on desktops. OpenGL ES is a derivative API available on many embedded platforms, such as Android or iOS. It is your best hope to write portable and efficient graphics code. OpenGL can render both 2D and 3D graphics.