I’ve been doing a bit of research lately on developing Android development and have found a slew of sites that could jump-start your Android-app development. Of course, there’s great books to read out there but what I like to do and how I learn best is by trying out different simple examples of programming.
Since Android apps are basically Java-based, it would help a great deal if you have done some Java programming before. Personally, I am a java engineer who has done many applications with embedded computers. This should be pretty easy for me once I get the hang of the basics. For those of you who are not Java familiar, I would highly suggest to read up on Java also. (which I will have roundup of Howtos soon too)
Well, let me show you some of the “free” guides and tutorials you can find online.
First off, you will want to bookmark the official Android developer’s guide. Whenever I start learning about API, I find it helpful to refer to the original developer’s site as they show you the most relevant information.
Now, I don’t want you to actually “read” the developer guide but use it as reference as we “jump-start” Android App development. Also read up on this great article that has great overview of the Android SDK.
Jump-starting your Android App development
How to Build an Android App in 5 Minutes! – This is a great short tutorial on how to get a sample app working in no time using Android SDK and Eclipse. Btw, Android SDK is what you need and Eclipse is an open-source Java GUI programming development software. My favorite Java development platform is actually NetBeans, you can download Android plugin for NetBeans here. Trust me, I’ve tried ALL of Java development platforms and NetBean was the simplest/easiest to use. Of course, Eclipse is great too, just not my favorite. (Also here’s a great Wiki article on how to develop Android Apps on Netbeans w/o plugin.)
Also don’t forget to watch the Android video on getting started with free tools provided from the Android SDK site:
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6ObTqIiYfE&feature=player_embedded
The best way to learn a new programming language/API is to actually try the most simple, sample programs out there.
Once you get the hang of compiling, executing, and debugging your new Android App development tools, you can try simple app examples such as this Calculator Program and GPS Example.
Also there’s the book Android Programming Tutorials, might be a great book with lots of examples.
As you try the sample app programs, keep referring back to the Android Developer Guide to see understand what each function does. This simple process of backtracking to the developer guide will eventually make you an expert as you will start learning/remembering all the functions.
Also remember Java’s strength lies in its ability to use existing libraries so what you need to do is learn what the libraries do. This makes everything very simple to develop and make new things with existing libraries.
I think I’ve just covered a lot of the bases for getting started with Android App development so I suggest you to go download SDK and Eclipse (or Netbeans) to try out your first sample Android App!
Java is also a lot of fun because the tools like Eclipse or Netbeans have been around for awhile and they do a great job of emulating. I will be trying to make an app myself here real soon, let me see what kind of App I want to make first, um…
