What is Intent?

It is a kind of message or information that is passed to the components. It is used to launch an activity, display a web page, send SMS, send email, etc. There are two types of intents in android:

• Implicit Intent
• Explicit Intent

In the context of Android development, an Intent is a messaging object that is used to request an action or to communicate between components (such as activities, services, broadcast receivers, and content providers) in an Android application. It serves as a mechanism to facilitate communication and interaction between different parts of an app or between different apps.

There are two main types of Intents in Android:

1. Explicit Intent: Used to start a specific component within the same application. For example, navigating from one activity to another within the same app.
   java

   Intent intent = new Intent(CurrentActivity.this, TargetActivity.class);
startActivity(intent);

2. Implicit Intent: Used to request functionality from other components on the device, without specifying a particular component to start. For example, opening a web page, sending an email, or making a phone call.
   java

   Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("https://www.example.com"));
startActivity(intent);


Intents can also carry additional data using extras, which are key-value pairs, to provide more information to the receiving component.

In summary, an Intent in Android is a fundamental concept that enables communication and coordination between different parts of an application or between different applications on the Android platform.