Category Archives: Android/Java

Posts about Java and Android

Developing Android applications in Java – Overview – My Notes

As I told before, I attended the free webinar by CreativeTech on Developing Android Applications with Java yesterday.

My friend Jaskirat, asked me write about the session since he missed some parts of it as he slept during the session. 🙂 Okay it was not because the session was boring, but due to the fact that 11 AM PST is midnight of us guys in India. I happily obliged and here are my notes from the session.

Introduction

The training started off with a brief introduction about the format of the session, about CreativeTech trainings, partnership with O’Reilly, brief profile of the author etc. They also explained how to use the GoTo Webinar console, ask questions etc.

Then there was a brief introduction about the android platform, its stack and how various components fit it. He also explained the various verbs like activity, intent etc. You can read about them in the Application fundamentals section of the android documentation.

Choosing the SDK version

Next there was a brief explanation about the SDK and the difference between android SDK and Google API’s and also about the various versions of SDK. This led to a brief Q&A session where people asked which version to SDK to target. The instructor then recommended targeting for SDK version 1.5. He said that version 1.5 strikes a balance between market reach and available features.

You can checkout the different versions of SDK and their market share in the android developer page.

Installing necessary software

After the Q&A, the instructor showed how to install the necessary software to follow the code samples.

You need to install the following

  • Eclipse
  • Android SDK
  • ADT Eclipse Plugin

You can follow the instructions in the android documentation page to install the above softwares.

After installing the necessary software, you should also create an Android Virtual Device (AVD), which will allow you to run the application in the Android Emulator.

Demo Application

The goal of the session was to introduce the android platform and to write a demo flashlight app.

The app will have two views (red and green, see screenshot), which can be toggled by clicking a button. The following are the screenshots of the application.

red-view green-view

Implementing the demo application

This was the meat of the presentation (but was pretty short due to time constraints), where he explained how to start writing code, to implement the demo application.

You can follow the steps in the “Hello World” tutorial of the android documentation to setup the project.

Source code

I have uploaded source code for yesterday’s session in github and you can download it from there.

The first session was really very good and I will be attending the remaining 5 sessions too and if possible will write blog posts with the notes that I take. Meanwhile if you are interested in developing android applications, then you should really watch this tutorial.

Update: I have added additional information about the android project structure in a subsequent post.

Update 2: I have also completed the homework for this session and have posted my source code and explanation.

Update 3: You can also view my notes for the next session.

You can also subscribe to my blog’s RSS feed or follow me in Twitter to receive updates about my notes for the next sessions.

Posted in Android/Java | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Free online course on developing android applications using Java

O’Reilly Training is conducting a 6-week online course which will help you to get started developing Android Applications with Java. The following is the official description

This free 6-week online course will get you started developing Android Applications with Java. You’ll learn hands on how to build actual working apps with Eclipse and the Android SDK, as well as the ins and outs of Android’s features

This online course if free if you watch it live, otherwise you may have to purchase it. You can check out the schedule in the official course page.

I check out the agenda and it seems to cover most of the basic things that you need to learn to develop applications using the Android platform. If you are interested then you register for the course at the official course page.

Posted in Android/Java | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Android Developer Challenge – ADC2

Mobile Application developers, get ready, Google has announced the second edition of Android Developer Challenge to award the best mobile apps build on the Android platform.

The first edition of Android Developer Challenge which took place last year had more than 1,700 entries. With the recent release of Android 1.5 Google is expecting more entries this time. This challenge was announced in the recent developer conference Google I/O along with other Google Wave and Google web Elements (more about them later 🙂 )

Rules

The following are some of the important rules to take part in the contest

  • Should be in English
  • Should run on Android 1.5
  • Open only for applications which are not published before.
  • Should be submitted to one of the following 10 specially-designated ADC 2 categories.

Categories

  • Education/Reference
  • Games: Casual/Puzzle
  • Games: Arcade/Action
  • Social Networking
  • Lifestyle
  • Productivity/Tools
  • Media
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Misc

Prizes

For each of the 10 categories:

  • 1st prize: $100,000
  • 2nd prize: $50,000
  • 3rd prize: $25,000

Overall (across all categories)

  • 1st prize: $150,000 (meaning the overall winner will receive $250,000)
  • 2nd prize: $50,000 (meaning the 2nd prize winner will receive up to $150,000)
  • 3rd prize: $25,000 (meaning the 3rd prize winner will receive up to $125,000)

Timeline

The dates are not yet finalized but the submission will close somewhere in August and the results will be available by November.

Important Links

PS: (for Yuvi) Since you have lost your mobile, try to get a new one which supports Android so that you can take part in the contest. 🙂

Posted in Android/Java, Events/Conferences | Tagged , | 4 Comments