Android in Practice [Paperback]

Charlie Collins (Author), Michael Galpin (Author), Matthias Kaeppler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 2011

Summary

Android in Practice is a treasure trove of Android goodness, with over 90 tested, ready-to-use techniques including complete end-to-end example applications and practical tips for real world mobile application developers. Written by real world Android developers, this book addresses the trickiest questions raised in forums and mailing lists. Using an easy-to-follow problem/solution/discussion format, it dives into important topics not covered in other Android books, like advanced drawing and graphics, testing and instrumentation, building and deploying applications, and using alternative languages.

About the Book

It's not hard to find the information you need to build your first Android app. Then what? If you want to build real apps, you will need some how-to advice, and that's what this book is about.

Android in Practice is a rich source of Android tips, tricks, and best practices, covering over 90 clever and useful techniques that will make you a more effective Android developer. Techniques are presented in an easy-to-read problem/solution/discussion format. The book dives into important topics like multitasking and services, testing and instrumentation, building and deploying applications, and using alternative languages.

What's Inside

• Techniques covering Android 1.x to 3.x
• Android for tablets
• Working with threads and concurrency
• Testing and building
• Using location awareness and GPS
• Styles and themes

And much more!

This book requires a working knowledge of Java, but no prior experience with Android is assumed.

Source Code can be found at https://code.google.com/p/android-in-​practice/

Table of Contents

PART 1 BACKGROUND AND FUNDAMENTALS

1. Introducing Android


2. Android application fundamentals


3. Managing lifecycle and state

PART 2 REAL WORLD RECIPES

4. Getting the pixels perfect
5. Managing background tasks with Services
6. Threads and concurrency
7. Storing data locally
8. Sharing data between apps
9. HTTP networking and web services
10. Location is everything
11. Appeal to the senses using multimedia
12. 2D and 3D drawing

PART 3 BEYOND STANDARD DEVELOPMENT

13. Testing and instrumentation
14. Build management
15. Developing for Android tablets

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charlie Collins is a mobile and web developer at MOVL, a contributor to several open source projects, and a coauthor of GWT in Practice and Unlocking Android.

Michael Galpin is a developer at Bump Technologies and worked on two of the most downloaded apps on the Android Market, Bump, and eBay Mobile.

Matthias Kaeppler is an Android and API engineer at Qype, and he created or maintains the Android open source projects Signpost, Droid-Fu, and Calculon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 648 pages
• Publisher: Manning Publications; 1 edition (October 7, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935182927
• ISBN-13: 978-1935182924
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Software engineer, code grunt, and author.

* GWT in Practice

* Unlocking Android

* Android in Practice

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What books should be., October 4, 2011

By 

Robert Cooper (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Android in Practice (Paperback)

"Android in Practice" is everything an experienced developer needs to develop first class applications for the Android platform. While not an omnibus tour, it includes everything a developer needs, including the OS tasking and networking models, UI, and storage.

Perhaps just as importantly, for honest-to-FSM professional developers it includes good coverage of setting up a build and test environment that will work with your pre-existing CI process.

"Hello, Android" is great if you don't know what you are doing. If you are a professional software developer, this is the book for you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I never bother with reviews, November 29, 2011

By 

Herb Abrams "hotelalfa" (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Android in Practice (Paperback)

I am so thrilled to have purchased this book that I broke my own lazy rule about not writing reviews.

This is well written, the code is so beautifully annotated, the examples practical and not simplistic.

I have a stack of useless books in this genre that are no better than what I could find in a 5 minute search on the web.

This book is worth every penny. Thank you authors.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on Android development, December 26, 2011

By 

Victor J. Grazi (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Android in Practice (Paperback)

I got started with the O'Reilly book, but half way through I realized it was not cohesive and needed to try something else.
Android in Practice is an excellent book, especially if you already know Java.
Still not totally perfect, but I guess it is hard to be complete in less than a few thousand pages - I will probably read Pro Android and waiting for Head First Android, just to fill in some of the gaps.
One thing I would have liked would be an index of API's - the book policy is to send you to the Android site for those, since they frequently change - but still, I think it would have been better if the book presented some common widgets with additional options in a table format in an appendix.