ANDROID A PROGRAMMERS GUIDE [Paperback]

J.F. DiMarzio (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071599886 | ISBN-13: 978-0071599887 | Publication Date: July 30, 2008 | Edition: 1

Master the Android mobile development platform

Build compelling Java-based mobile applications using the Android SDK and the Eclipse open-source software development platform. Android: A Programmer's Guide shows you, step-by-step, how to download and set up all of the necessary tools, build and tune dynamic Android programs, and debug your results. Discover how to provide web and chat functions, interact with the phone dialer and GPS devices, and access the latest Google services. You'll also learn how to create custom Content Providers and database-enable your applications using SQLite.

• Install and configure Java, Eclipse, and Android plugin
• Create Android projects from the Eclipse UI or command line
• Integrate web content, images, galleries, and sounds
• Deploy menus, progress bars, and auto-complete functions
• Trigger actions using Android Intents, Filters, and Receivers
• Implement GPS, Google Maps, Google Earth, and GTalk
• Build interactive SQLite databases, calendars, and notepads
• Test applications using the Android Emulator and Debug Bridge

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jerome (J. F.) DiMarzio is a senior Web developer with a leading academic development firm. He works in VB.NET, C#, ASP.NET Java, and many other languages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (July 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071599886
• ISBN-13: 978-0071599887
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Virtually useless, September 21, 2008

By 

Jeffrey Smith (Plano Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ANDROID A PROGRAMMERS GUIDE (Paperback)

I had fairly low expectations from this book as the API is still in a state of flux, so if some of the examples needed tweaking that would have been alright. However, I could not even find any example code on the book's website as advertised on the back cover. This is a 400 page book so I expected to get at least some useful material from it, but the author does not even get past Hello World until over 100 pages. The material after that consists of repetitions of trivial code additions followed by regurgitation of the source. It would appear that the author was just trying to increase the page count with no real valuable content. There is no in-depth discussion of what Activities, Intents, etc. actually are or how they work. After this poor experience I went back to the online help and am finding it vastly more thorough and helpful. I would not recommend this book for any level of developer.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars avoid at all cost, October 11, 2008

By 

H. Wu "Code Shogun" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ANDROID A PROGRAMMERS GUIDE (Paperback)

The author does not even understand Java programming conventions. He used capitalized camel case for method name. But some other methods are using the correct camel case. It's mixed throughout his codes. Also, android_programmers_guide.chapter is his package name. Oh my, coming from an ASP/VB programmer's background certainly hurts here.

Aside from that, the book is shallow, not much interesting stuff. The Google official samples are much better and cleaner!

Stay away at all possible cost!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars mashup of existing online google android material, August 11, 2008

By 

sftwre - See all my reviews

This review is from: ANDROID A PROGRAMMERS GUIDE (Paperback)

Just received this book. I went over the first seven chapters and am very disappointed. The first seven chapters are nothing more than existing online material with some added textual embellishments. There are also a few chapters with sample code (some of which are from the Google samples) and a few might be original code. This is not recommended.