In a turn of sorts in the Google Oracle lawsuit, in which Google has been accused of illegal use of Sun Microsystems’ Java programming language for its Android mobile operating system, former Google software architect Dan Bornstein testified on April 25 that he took some Java code out of Android.

Giving the reason that updates are frequently released for software projects, Bornstein said that soon after Oracle filed its lawsuit against Google in 2010 after acquiring Sun Microsystems, he had removed part of the Java code from Google’s increasingly popular mobile OS.

Bornstein revealed that, at one point of time, he was involved in an internal Google memo which apparently conveyed the suggestion that Android coders and architects with Java experience could use the code which was already known to them, but not copy it from other sources.

Bornstein – who is currently employed with a startup called The Obvious Corp. – told the federal court that the Java code components which took out of the Android 2010 version were essentially an addition which had been made to the OS by had been a third-party contractor, Switzerland-based Noser Engineering.

In addition, Bornstein also revealed that the Google team had specifically directed Noser about the parts of Java which it could/could not use when contributing to the Android development.

In response to a question about the reason behind his removal of Java code parts out of Android, Bornstein said that Android is "a living project", and just like most of the other ongoing software projects, is constantly being updated and improved.