Android Application Development All-in-One For Dummies

Barry Burd, John Paul Mueller

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781119660453
• eBook ISBN: 9781119660439
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming Mobile Devices
• Index: Computer Science

Conquer the world of Android app development

Android has taken over the mobile and TV markets and become unstoppable! Android offers a vast stage for developers to serve millions—and rake in the profits—with diverse and wide-ranging app ideas. Whether you're a raw recruit or a veteran programmer, you can get in on the action and become a master of the Android programming universe with the new edition of Android Application Development For Dummies All-in-One. In addition to receiving guidance on mobile and TV development, you'll find overviews of native code, watch, car, Android wear, and other device development.

This friendly, easy-to-follow book kicks off by offering a fundamental understanding of Android's major technical ideas, including functional programming techniques. It moves on to show you how to work effectively in Studio, program cool new features, and test your app to make sure it's ready to release to a waiting world. You'll also have an opportunity to brush up on your Kotlin and develop your marketing savvy. There are millions of potential customers out there, and you want to stand out from the crowd!

• Understand new features and enhancements
• Get development best-practices
• Know your Android hardware
• Access online materials

With a market share like Android's, the stakes couldn't be higher. Android Application Development For Dummies All-in-One levels the field and gives you the tools you need to take on the world.

Book 1

Getting Started with Android Application Development

Contents at a Glance

1. Chapter 1: All about Android
   1. The Consumer Perspective
   2. The Versions of Android
   3. The Developer Perspective
   4. The Business Perspective
2. Chapter 2: Installing the Software Tools
   1. Setting Up the Software
   2. Launching the Android Studio IDE
   3. Fattening Up the Android SDK
3. Chapter 3: Creating an Android App
   1. Creating Your First App
   2. Running Your App
   3. You Can Download All the Code
   4. Troubleshooting Common IDE Errors
   5. Testing Apps on a Real Device
4. Chapter 4: Examining a Basic Android App
   1. A Project’s Files
   2. The MainActivity.kt file
   3. The res Branch
   4. Other Files in an Android Project
   5. What Did I Agree To?
5. Chapter 5: Conjuring and Embellishing an Android App
   1. Dragging, Dropping, and Otherwise Tweaking an App
   2. A Bit of Debugging
6. Chapter 6: Improving Your App
   1. Improving the Layout
   2. Starting Another Activity
   3. Localizing Your App
   4. Responding to Check Box Events
   5. Displaying Images
   6. Sending in Your Order

Chapter 1

All about Android

IN THIS CHAPTER

Your take on Android (depending on who you are)

A tour of Android technologies

Until the mid-2000s, the word “Android” stood for a mechanical humanlike creature — a rootin’ tootin’ officer of the law with built-in machine guns, or a hyperlogical space traveler who can do everything except speak using contractions. But in 2005, Google purchased Android, Inc. — a 22-month-old company creating software for mobile phones. That move changed everything.

In 2007, a group of 34 companies formed the Open Handset Alliance. The Alliance's task was (and still is) “to accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience.” The Alliance's primary project is Android — an open, free operating system based on the Linux operating system kernel.

HTC released the first commercially available Android phone near the end of 2008, but the public's awareness of Android and its potential didn't surface until early 2010. By the mid-2010s, the world had more than 400 Android device manufacturers with 500 mobile carriers using Android and 1.5 million Android activations each day (https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/android-statistics/). By mid-2019, more than 2.5 billion active devices ran the Android operating system (https://venturebeat.com/2019/05/07/android-passes-2-5-billion-monthly-active-devices/). (We know. By the time you read this book, the year 2019 is old news. That's okay.)

This chapter introduces Android. The chapter examines Android from a few different angles.

The Consumer Perspective

A consumer considers the mobile phone alternatives.

Possibility #1: No mobile phone.

• Advantages: Inexpensive. No junk calls. No interruptions. No GPS tracking or snooping by businesses or other agencies.
• Disadvantages: No instant contact with friends and family. No calls to services in case of an emergency. No hand-held games, no tweeting, tooting, hooting, homing, roaming, or booping. And worst of all, to break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you can't simply send a text message.

Possibility #2: A feature phone — a mobile phone that's not a smartphone.

• Advantages: Cheaper than a smartphone.
• Disadvantages: Not as versatile as a smartphone. Not nearly as cool as a smartphone. Nowhere near as much fun as a smartphone.
  

  There's no official rule defining the boundary between feature phones and smartphones. But generally, a feature phone is one with an inflexible menu of home-screen options. A feature phone's menu items relate mostly to traditional mobile phone functions, such as dialing, texting, and maybe some limited web surfing and gaming. In contrast, a smartphone's home screen provides access to the underlying file system and has icons, customizable skins, and many other features that used to be available only to general-purpose computer operating systems.
  Don't write off feature phones. As late as March 2019, Counterpoint Research predicted that people will buy a billion feature phones between 2019 and 2022 (https://www.counterpointresearch.com/more-than-a-billion-feature-phones-to-be-sold-over-next-three-years/). This fact may shock you if you live in a country where feature phones are passé. But in 2019, the worldwide feature phone continued to grow.

Possibility #3: An iPhone.

• Advantages: Great graphics.
• Disadvantages: Little or no flexibility with the single-vendor iOS operating system. Only a handful of different models to choose from. No sanctioned “rooting,” “modding,” or “jailbreaking” the phone. And then there is the potential cost of an iPhone when compared to ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Book 1: Getting Started with Android Application Development
• Book 2: Android Background Material
• Book 3: The Building Blocks
• Book 4: Programming Cool Phone Features
• Book 5: Apps for Tablets, Watches, TV Sets, and Cars
• Book 6: The Job Isn’t Done Until …
• Index
• About the Authors
• Connect with Dummies
• End User License Agreement