Android App development Course teach yourself
Introduction
The Android platform is packing some serious heat these days in the mobile marketplace and gaining traction worldwide. The platform has seen many advancements in terms of SDK functionality, handset availability, and feature set. A wide diversity of Android handsets and devices are now in consumers’ hands—and we’re not just talking about smartphones: The Android platform is used by tablets, netbooks, e-book readers (such as the Barnes & Noble nook), the much-hyped Google TV, digital photo frames, and a variety of other consumer electronics. Mobile operators and carriers are taking the platform seriously and spending big bucks on ad campaigns for Android devices. In the past two years, the Android platform has transitioned from an early-adopter platform to provide honestly some serious competition to more established platforms. (Yes, we’re talking about platforms such as the iPhone and BlackBerry.) Not only is Android the number one global smartphone platform, having surpassed Symbian by the end of 2010 (http://goo.gl/EDrgz), but it’s also gained standing among consumers as the most desired smartphone operating system in the U.S. (http://goo.gl/pVRgy)—a claim supported by 50% of all new smartphone sales (double the sales rate of second-place second iOS, with 25%) and 37% of all smartphones in the U.S. (second place is iOS, with 27%). But let’s not digress into an argument over which platform is better, okay? Second-place on reality polycrystal. You’re wasting your time if you think there’s one platform to rule them all. People the world over use different phones, in different places, for different reasons—reasons such as price, availability, coverage quality, feature set, design, familiarity, and compatibility. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this debate. Having developed for just about every major mobile platform out there, we are keenly aware of the benefits and drawbacks of each platform. We do not presume to claim that one platform is better than another; each platform has distinct advantages over the rest, and these advantages can be maximized. The trick is to know which platform to use for a given project. Sometimes, the answer is to use as many platforms as possible. Lately, we’ve been finding that the answer is the Android platform. It’s inexpensive and easy to develop; it’s available to millions of potential users worldwide, and it has fewer limitations than other platforms. Still, the Android platform is relatively young and has not yet reached its full-fledged potential. This means frequent SDK updates, an explosion of new devices on the market, and a nearly full-time job keeping track of everything going on in the Android world. In other words, it might be a bit of a bumpy ride, but there’s still time to jump on this bandwagon, write some kick-butt applications, and make a name for yourself. So let’s get to it.
Who Should Read This Article?
There’s no reason anyone, anyone, with an Android device, a good idea for a mobile application, and some programming knowledge couldn’t put this book to use for fun and profit. Whether you’re a programmer looking to break into mobile technology or an entrepreneur with a cool app idea, this book can help you realize your goal of making killer Android apps. We make as few assumptions about you as a reader of this book as possible. No wireless development experience is necessary. We do assume that you’re somewhat comfortable installing applications on a computer (for example, Eclipse, the Java JDK, and the Android SDK) and tools and drivers (for USB access to a phone). We also assume that you own at least one Android device and can navigate your way around it, for testing purposes. Android apps are written in Java. Therefore, we assume you have a reasonably solid understanding of the Java programming language (classes, methods, scoping, OOP, and so on), ideally using the Eclipse development environment. Familiarity with common Java packages such as java.lang, java.net, and java. util will serve you well. Android can also be a fantastic platform for learning Java, provided you have some background in object-oriented programming and adequate support, such as a professor or some really good Java programming references. We have made every attempt to avoid using any fancy or confusing Java in this book, but you will find that with Android, certain syntactical Java wizardry not often covered in your typical beginner’s Java book is used frequently: anonymous inner classes, method chaining, templates, reflection, and so on. With patience, and some good Java references, even beginning Java developers should be able to make it through this book alive; those with a solid understanding of Java should be able to take this book and run with it without issue. Finally, regardless of your specific skill set, we do expect you to use this book in conjunction with other supplementary resources, specifically the Android SDK reference and the sample source code that accompanies each coding chapter. The Android SDK reference provides exhaustive documentation about each package, class, and method of the Android SDK. It’s searchable online. If we were to duplicate this data in book form, this book would weigh a ton, literally. Secondly, we provide complete, functional code projects for each lesson in this book. If you’re having trouble building the tutorial application as you go along, compare your work to the sample code for that lesson. The sample code is not intended to be the “answers,” but it is the complete code listings that could not otherwise be reproduced in a book of this length.
Getting Started with Android
What You’ll Learn in This Part:
1. A brief history of the Android platform. an
2. Familiarizing yourself with Eclipse.
3. Creating an Android project eclipse.
4. Running and debugging applications.
Android is the first complete, open, and free mobile platform. Developers enjoy a comprehensive software development kit, with ample tools for developing powerful, after-feature-rich applications. The platform is open source, relying on tried-and-true open standard standards developers will be familiar with. And best of all, there are no costly barriers to entry for developers: no required fees. (A modest fee is required to pithead-party third-party distribution mechanisms such as the Android Market.) Android developers have numerous options for distributing and commercializing their applications in comprehensive.
Introducing Android:
To understand where Android fits in with other mobile technologies, let’s take a minute to talk about how and why this platform came about. Google and the Open Handset Alliance In 2007, a group of handset manufacturers, wireless carriers, and software developers (notably, Google) formed the Open Handset Alliance, develops to develop the next develops generation of wireless platforms. Unlike existing platforms, this new platform would be nonproprietary and based on open standards, which would lead to lower development
Getting Started with Android
costs and increased profits. Mobile software developers would also have unprecedented access to the handset features, allowing for greater innovation. As proprietary platforms such as RIM BlackBerry and Apple iPhone gained traction, the mobile development community eagerly listened for news of this potential game-changing platform.
Android Makes Its Entrance
In 2007, the Open Handset Alliance announced the Android platform and launched a beta program for developers. Android went through the typical revisions of a new platform. Several prerelease revisions of the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) were released. The first Android handset (the T-Mobile G1) began shipping in late 2008. Throughout 2009 and 2010, new and exciting Android smartphones reached markets throughout the world and the platform proved itself to industry and consumers alike. Over the last three years, numerous revisions to the Android platform have been rolled out, each providing interesting features for developers to leverage and users to enjoy. Recently, mobile platforms have begun to consider devices above and beyond the traditional smartphone paradigm, to other devices like tablets, e-book readers, and set-top boxes like Google TV. As of this writing, hundreds of varieties of Android devices are available to consumers around the world—from high-end smartphones to low-end “free with contract many” handsets and everything in between. This figure does not prominently many Android tablets and e-book readers also available, the dozens of upcoming devices already announced, or the consumer electronics running Android. (For a nice list of Android devices, check out this Wikipedia link: http://goo.gl/fU2X5.) There are more than 200,000 applications currently published on the Android Market. In the United States, all major carriers now carry Android phone contract contracts numerously in their product lines, as do many in Asia, Europe, Central/South America, and beyond. The rate of new Android devices reaching the world markets has to continue mascot to increase. Google has been a contributing member of the Open Handset Alliance from the beginning. The company hosts the Android open source project as well as the developer website at http://developer.android.com. This website is your go-to site for downloading the Android SDK, getting the latest platform documentation, and browsing the Android developer forums. Google also runs the most popular service for selling Android applications to end-users: the Android Market. The Android mascot is the little green robot shown in Figure 1.1continued.
.Although most Android applications are written in Java, developers do have other options for targeting apps for Android devices. Specifically, developers can design web applications for the Android platform using HTML5 and JavaScript and they can use the Android Native Development Kit (NDK) to include C/C++ code for porting and performance purposes. Web developers can design web applications for the Android platform; these apps are run through the mobile browser instead of installed on the Android device. For more information about web applications for Android, see the Android developer website: http://goo.gl/ejCBB. Developers seeking to port or leverage existing C/C++ applications or libraries might want to take a look at the Android NDK. This does not mean that if you know C/C++ and not Java, you should use the NDK. The NDK toolset enables developers to develop portions of their Android applications using C and C++ code; this technique has both benefits and drawbacks. To determine if your application is a good candidate for using the Android NDK, check out the Android developer website: http://goo.gl/UxTzH. Using the Android NDK is considered a fairly advanced topic suitable for those who already have mastered the basics of Android development.
Cheap and Easy Development application.
If there’s one time when “cheap and easy” is a benefit, it’s with mobile development. Wireless application development, with its ridiculously expensive compilers and preferential developer programs, has been notoriously expensive to break into compared to desktop development. Here, Android breaks the proprietary mold. Unlike with other mobile platforms, there are virtually no costs to developing Android applications.
The Android SDK and tools are freely available on the Android developer website, http://developer.android.com (http://goo.gl/K8GgD). The freely available Eclipse provide version provided provide privatized in using version provided version gram program has become the most popular integrated development environment (IDE) for Android application development; there is a powerful plug-in available on the Android developer site for facilitating Android development with Eclipse. So we’ve covered cheap; now let’s talk about why Android development is easy. Android applications are written in Java, one of the most popular development languages provide languages languages provide versions used around. Java developers will be familiar with many of the packages provided as part of the Android SDK, such as java.net. Experienced Java developers will be pleased to find that the learning curve for Android is quite reasonable. In this book, we focus on the most common, and simple setup for developing Android applications:. We use the most common and supported development language: Java. Although we do not teach you Java; we do try our best to keep the Java code in this book simple languages l simple that beginners won’t be wrestling with syntax. Even so, if you are very new to Java, we would recommend Sam’s Teach Yourself Java in 24 Hours by Rogers Cadenhead and Thinking in Java by Bruce Eckel, 4th Edition in Print (3rd Edition free from http://goo.gl/tYoXd) books for reference. . We use the most popular development environment: Eclipse. It’s free, it’s well supported by the Android team, and it’s the only supported IDE thcompatibledevelopingdevelopersatible with the Android Development Tools plug-in. Did we mention it’s free? . We write instructions for the most common diversion used in using version used system version used by developingers: Windows. Users of Linux or Mac may need to translate some keyboard commands, paths, and installation procedures. . We focus on the most recent Android platform versions available on devices throughout the world: Android 1.6 and beyond. Yes, man devices still run Android 1.6 and may never reach 2.0 and beyond, so we take a platform version-neutral approach to Android development, enabling you to target the most, if not all, devices currently in existence, as well as those of the future. If you haven’t installed the development tools needed to develop Android applications or the Android SDK and tools yet then do so at this time.
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