Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform (Pragmatic Programmers) [Paperback]

Ed Burnette (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1934356565 | ISBN-13: 978-1934356562 | Edition: Third Edition

Google's Android is shaking up the mobile market in a big way. With Android, you can write programs that run on any compatible cell phone or tablet in the world. It's a mobile platform you can't afford not to learn, and this book gets you started. Hello, Android has been updated to Android 2.3.3, with revised code throughout to reflect this updated version. That means that the book is now up-to-date for tablets such as the Kindle Fire. All examples were tested for forwards and backwards compatibility on a variety of devices and versions of Android from 1.5 to 4.0. (Note: the Kindle Fire does not support home screen widgets or wallpaper, so those samples couldn't be tested on the Fire.)

Android is an operating system for mobile phones and tablets. It's inside millions of cell phones and other devices, including the hugely popular Amazon Kindle Fire, making Android the foremost platform for mobile application developers. That could be your own program running on all those devices.

Within minutes, Hello, Android will get you started creating your first working application: Android's version of "Hello, World." From there, you'll build up a more substantial example: an Android Sudoku game. By gradually adding features to the game, you'll learn the basics of Android programming. You'll also see how to build in audio and video support, add graphics using 2D and 3D OpenGL, network with web pages and web services, and store data with SQLite. You'll also learn how to publish your applications to the Android Market.

The #1 book for learning Android is now in its third edition. Every page and example was reviewed and updated for compatibility with the latest versions. Freshly added material covers installing applications to the SD card, supporting multi-touch, and creating live wallpaper. You'll also find plenty of real-world advice on how to support all major Android versions in use today.

If you'd rather be coding than reading about coding, this book is for you.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ed Burnette is editor of the articles section at eclipse.org, and author of the web site's "The Rich Client Platform (RCP) Tutorial" series. Ed also co-authored Eclipse in Action (Manning) and runs the eclipsepowered.org site, where he can often be found hanging out in the Eclipse community forums. He's written everything from multi-user servers to compilers to commercial video games since earning a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from North Carolina State University. He is a Principal Systems Developer at SAS, and lives near Research Triangle Park, NC.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf; Third Edition edition (August 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934356565
• ISBN-13: 978-1934356562
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.6 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Computers & Technology > Mobile Phones, Tablets & E-Readers > Programming & App Development

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Up to date, broad, shallow and focused on Android September 19, 2010

By Stephen Emm

Format:Paperback

This book covers a broad array of topics, it covers none of them in real depth and it is really really focused on Android - as opposed to Java. For my situation - it was perfect.

As a "read in a week, do the examples and lean a hell of a lot" type of book - it does the job well. If you know nothing about Android, want a crash course in the possibilities, and some basic intro on to how to realise them - this is the book you want. It's short, it's to the point and it will kick-start you into development. It's also way more digestible than the online docs if you're just starting out.
It will not turn you into an Android development ace; although it's such a new technology, you may be mistaken for one when you open your mouth. You'll certainly be able to "talk" a reasonable game when you're finished. If you are looking for a detailed Android reference or advanced programming manual type of thing - it's the wrong book.

It focuses on Android - not Java. You will learn NOTHING about Java programming, the pages deal exclusively with the Android system, and how to program it USING Java.

The book is divided up into 4 sections:

Section I : Introducing Android
------------------------------------
Chapter 1 : Gets the tools set up (Eclipse IDE, Android Development Kit plug-in and Android SDK) and has you compiling the obligatory "Hello World" project.
Chapter 2 : Takes you on a 5 minute tour of the Android system from bottom to top. It's useful, especially if like me you come from a non-mobile development context. Android handles
application life-cycle differently because of the resource constrained devices it's typically hosted by; this has major implications for your application implementation.

Section II : The Basics (Uses the construction of a basic Sudoku game as it's vehicle for teaching throughout the section)
------------------------------------
Chapter 3 : User interface (Screens, Dialogue boxes, Menus, Buttons etc.)
Chapter 4 : 2D Graphics (draw your Sudoku grid / numbers)
Chapter 5 : Multimedia (Audio / Video...to add those essential Sudoku sounds...)
Chapter 6 : Storing Local Data (remembering Sudoku options - handling saving of current game data when the game is paused [e.g. when a call comes in mid-game and Android context
switches out your application])

Section III : Beyond the Basics
------------------------------------
Chapter 7 : The Connected World - using the phone browser / browser view, JavaScript, web services.
Chapter 8 : Location and Sensing - using the host of other sensors (GPS, Accelerometer, light-meter, orientation etc) your device may have.
Chapter 9 : SQLite - using the ever-popular SQLite embedded database that comes with Android.
Chapter 10 : 3D Graphics - using the Android implementation of OpenGL.

Section IV : The Next Generation
------------------------------------
Chapter 11 : Multi-touch - how to
Chapter 12 : There's no place like home - creating widgets / live wall-paper
Chapter 13 : Write once, Test Everywhere - advice and tips on debugging / testing when faced with a large array of devices already in the wild.
Chapter 14 : Publishing to the Market - a basic overview of getting your application to those fee-paying mobile junkies.

My one gripe with this book is in Section II - you're in the mix...building Sudoku and it's done in a nice, incremental manner: you write a little code, compile it up and see it run. Gradually the game comes together and you get a sense of satisfaction from watching it do just that. Then, at a certain point, you'll find yourself writing code that uses functions you've not written yet....suddenly...POW...your code doesn't compile and you can't see the results of your new code. Obviously you dive forward, find the functions, implement them and hey presto, it compiles again. It's not a terminal thing; just out of the blue and a little frustrating.

Overall - I thought this was a really good book for someone a) who knows a bit of Java b) doesn't know Android at all. You could probably figure it all out from the online docs - but I bet you it will take a lot longer and won't be half as pleasant an experience! I'd recommend it to anyone starting out with Android.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Android Beginners Bible - Ignore the Naysayers September 19, 2010

By Jack B. Welch

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been a developer for nearly 30 years now and I have bought an incredible volume of books over this time period. This book, Hello Android was one of my favorites to actually "read". This book covers the complete creation of a game from start to finish. What I like about the book is that the author explains what we are goig to do, shows the coding to make it happen, explains why we are coding it that way and if it is something graphical he shows us what it should look like. What more an you ask for? I also like how he can guess what your question may be and answers it. For example he talks about colors values( alpha, red,green & blue). My first question was "What the heck is alpha". I turn the page..then there it is he explains it. This book was enjoyable as opposed to so many other books I have bought. I sat down and read half of it while my wife was getting her hair done. To me it read like a novel.

I can not find anything bad to say about this book. I read some of the other reviews and I was surprised by what others had wrote. I can only guess that their negative responses are a result of their limited experience.

The point of the book is to get one started in Android programming and that is exactlty what it does. I am hoping I will find other books written by this author.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth getting all digital formats. August 3, 2010

By Chris Chenoweth

Format:Paperback

I will preface my review by saying I am a C# developer used to Visual Studio (up to version 2010). I love the Visual Studio environment. Eclipse was a little bit of a learning curve for me. But, I got by just fine.

Here is a book that took me about 3 days to read cover to cover. I've been programming for many years and this book was perfect for me. High level overviews are the best way to figure out how things work. He even provides links for you to find more information for things that truly interest you.

I don't agree with some of other reviews. I really didn't have any issues implementing the code in the examples.

My only complaint would be in the OpenGL section. I wish there was more comments in the code as to what each line was doing. I looked each up myself easily though.

Get the PDF, Mobi, and epub. Amazon doesn't appear to offer it on their site. So, I had to go to the publishers site (The offer all three for a lower price than buying the hard copy). That could change. I didn't really see a reason for the actual print version since I have a Kindle DX.