Professional Android Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

by Reto Meier (Author)
Key Phrases: content providers, shared preferences, earthquake activity, Broadcast Receivers, Data Storage, Menu Item (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A hands-on guide to building mobile applications, Professional Android Application Development features concise and compelling examples that show you how to quickly construct real-world mobile applications for Android phones. Fully up-to-date for version 1.0 of the Android software development kit, it covers all the essential features, and explores the advanced capabilities of Android (including GPS, accelerometers, and background Services) to help you construct increasingly complex, useful, and innovative mobile applications for Android phones.

What this book includes

• An introduction to mobile development, Android, and how to get started.
• An in-depth look at Android applications and their life cycle, the application manifest, Intents, and using external resources.
• Details for creating complex and compelling user interfaces by using, extending, and creating your own layouts and Views and using Menus.
• A detailed look at data storage, retrieval, and sharing using preferences, files, databases, and Content Providers.
• Instructions for making the most of mobile portability by creating rich map-based applications as well as using location-based services and the geocoder.
• A look at the power of background Services, using threads, and a detailed look at Notifications.
• Coverage of Android's communication abilities including SMS, the telephony APIs, network management, and a guide to using Internet resources
• Details for using Android hardware, including media recording and playback, using the camera, accelerometers, and compass sensors.
• Advanced development topics including security, IPC, advanced 2D / 3D graphics techniques, and user–hardware interaction.

Who this book is for
This book is for anyone interested in creating applications for the Android mobile phone platform. It includes information that will be valuable whether you're an experienced mobile developer or making your first foray, via Android, into writing mobile applications. It will give the grounding and knowledge you need to write applications using the current SDK, along with the flexibility to quickly adapt to future enhancements.

From the Back Cover
Professional Android Application Development

Offering an open development environment, Android represents an exciting new opportunity to write innovative applications for mobile devices. This book provides you with a hands-on guide to building these applications using the Android software development kit. It takes you through a series of sample projects, each introducing new features and techniques to get the most out of Android. You'll learn all about the basic functionality as well as discover how to utilize the advanced features with the help of concise and useful examples.

Beginning with an introduction to the Android software stack, the author examines the philosophy behind creating robust, consistent, and appealing applications for mobile phones. You'll get the grounding and knowledge that is needed to write customized mobile applications using the current Android 1.0 SDK. Plus, you'll also gain the flexibility to quickly adapt to future enhancements in order to build the most cutting-edge solutions.

What you will learn from this book

• Best practices for Android mobile development

• An introduction to Activities, Intents, the manifest, and resources

• How to create user interfaces with layouts and custom views

• Techniques to store and share your application data

• Instructions for creating map-based applications, using location-based services including GPS, and geocoding locations

• How to create and use background Services and Notifications

• Working with the accelerometers, compass, and camera hardware

• All about phone and networking hardware such as telephony APIs, SMS, and network management

• Advanced development topics, including security, IPC, and some advanced graphics and user interface techniques

Who this book is for
This book is for anyone interested in creating applications for the Android mobile phone platform. It includes information that will be valuable whether you're an experienced mobile developer or just starting out writing mobile applications.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wrox (November 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470344717
• ISBN-13: 978-0470344712
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,732 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction for new Android developers, December 14, 2008

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

The author clearly and concisely explains the fundamental aspects of Android programming. The coverage of Android topics is pretty comprehensive and the depth of coverage was just right for my needs. Mr. Meier provides some background information about mobile programming platforms in general, so the only real prerequisite for this book is familiarity with Java programming. The examples are also very informative and build new features incrementally, which keeps the focus on the most recently covered material, and reflects modern incremental development practices. This book, in conjunction with the excellent materials available online from Google, anddev.org and elsewhere, provide an effective staring point for developers looking to get started quickly on the Android platform.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Entry Reading, December 16, 2008

By	Richard Cupryjak "Phillipe" (USA, Dallas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was struggling with Android documentation (there is a lot of it but can be improved a lot, although the Notepad examples are very good) trying to understand the programming concepts for G1. So I got this book on pre-order and it was worth waiting for. Plenty of examples, code snippets, very good and clean explanations. I like author's approach of taking an application (Earthquake) through a series of improvements, so you can learn it gradually, from simple to more complex (and sophisticated) approach.
It is hard to cover a massive SDK in 400 pages but it is enough to learn basics and then start digging with some understanding and confidence into the on-line documentation. I am recommending this book to anybody who wants to learn the principles of G1 platform programming. Great job Reto!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely essential, November 18, 2008

By	Mr. M. Jennings (London, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although the online documentation for Android is very good, I much prefer to have a coherently written book that I can flip through for reference. In learning Android I have found Mr Meier's book to be absolutely invaluable. It is written from the point of view of a professional, working programmer and as such is it very readable.
Although the book covers all of the important aspects of Android and to a reasonable depth, I think it would be great to see some follow-up books from the same author that focus on particular aspects of Android (like UI or interprocess communication for example). A well-thumbed copy of this book is now on my desk at work (along with old cups of coffee and various other bits of clutter).