so i would like to learn how to do things for my phone and possibly help with the dev community. but i know practically nothing about linux or how to do anything useful. i am looking for links or other useful information to help me get started. i have lots of time on my hands and learn pretty quick. i assume i would start with the sdk (would i use the 1.5 one since thats what our phones are currently running on, or is the 2.0 out yet? and would i try from there), but other than that have no idea what else would be useful.
so.... yeah. helpful link to good info or any good e books, or anything like that that will get me going. thanks in advance
i would use the newest SDK, 2.0.1, and make sure that it will function on the emulators for both 1.5 and 2.0.1, frankly if you arent already proficient with linux or java, this wont be a easy thing to get into. However I WILL point out how threads like this are terribly pointless... you arent helping anyone out, and frankly you're asking for information that is quite available.
thanks for nothing. other than making me feel stupid.
Some help, maybe.
ix3u said:
thanks for nothing. other than making me feel stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been spending quite a bit of time on the threads here, I too am in search of more information specific to the android. I don't know that I'll ever be able to contribute too much to the devs, but at least I can understand my phone better, and help out with answering questions on the forums.
I would think that starting with something like creating a theme would be a good place to start, and would get you a little more familiar with the ways of android. Then I would move up into other things, and before you know it you will be much more proficient. It's all about starting somewhere. (and having a good backup)
Here's some posts / links that I have collected that i thought might aid me when i create some time to start the same endeavor...
* Ratcom's guide to creating Theme's
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=574167
* An Android Developers Guide (with tutorials, and tons of info)
http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html
* How-to's regarding android application development:
http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/topics/guides.aspx
* Tutorials and exercises
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-11-19-n27.html
I haven't looked at most of those, but hopefully they will be a good start. I look forward to the day when I start looking at them too.
Hopefully that's helpful, it's all I can offer.
Good luck, and godspeed
-AndyS-
thanks., that is more like what i was looking for
jmhalder said:
i would use the newest SDK, 2.0.1, and make sure that it will function on the emulators for both 1.5 and 2.0.1, frankly if you arent already proficient with linux or java, this wont be a easy thing to get into. However I WILL point out how threads like this are terribly pointless... you arent helping anyone out, and frankly you're asking for information that is quite available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm. So much for helping someone out who at least has the desire to learn and grow to be more. Communist much? or just a Liberal Democrat? I applaud him for trying. Who knows more about where to get the information other than XDA? Hell a google search on this stuff turns up mostly useless garbage anyways. Why spend hours digging it up when someone else may know a good resource.
Lets refrain from flames/rebuttals please.
I have a few FAQ's and tutorials on my site. Also checking things like my release notes and mind map (linked in v1.0 release) will help. There aren't any full on tutorials but it's just a good place for general info.
Check my sig.
As flipz stated, there's no good centralized place for organized information. The best advice is truly to search this site, and search with google. It's an uphill battle getting that base of knowledge built up to get you going. I know, I'm still working my way up the hill. I thought about putting a site together to organize and share information but that would take away too much from what little time I have to spend on rom developement.
I doub't that is really the answer you were hoping to get but unfortunately thats the grim reality of things. Perhaps someone with a lot more free time than I, will put together a site of their own and compile and organize all kinds of good information in a central place. It would truly be a boon to the android community.
obelisk79 said:
As flipz stated, there's no good centralized place for organized information. The best advice is truly to search this site, and search with google. It's an uphill battle getting that base of knowledge built up to get you going. I know, I'm still working my way up the hill. I thought about putting a site together to organize and share information but that would take away too much from what little time I have to spend on rom developement.
I doub't that is really the answer you were hoping to get but unfortunately thats the grim reality of things. Perhaps someone with a lot more free time than I, will put together a site of their own and compile and organize all kinds of good information in a central place. It would truly be a boon to the android community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be happy to bring some writers on to my site or to host some tutorials or anything that others have written. My job offers me a lot of flexibility and free time, however like you I am spending all of it developing right now. This kitchen is kicking my butt.
Edit: We'll see if I get any hits. http://geekfor.me/news/wanted-writers-for-faq-tutorial-help/
I may be able to help. My freetime seems to come and go, but I’ve always been pretty good at making How-To’s.
What format would be best?
html,pdf,etc…
ix3u said:
so i would like to learn how to do things for my phone and possibly help with the dev community. but i know practically nothing about linux or how to do anything useful. i am looking for links or other useful information to help me get started. i have lots of time on my hands and learn pretty quick. i assume i would start with the sdk (would i use the 1.5 one since thats what our phones are currently running on, or is the 2.0 out yet? and would i try from there), but other than that have no idea what else would be useful.
so.... yeah. helpful link to good info or any good e books, or anything like that that will get me going. thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good thread, thanks for starting it.
I'm in a pretty similar spot. 2 weeks ago I had zero exposure to or knowledge about Android or Linux. I'm proficient with Windows. In the last 2 weeks I've rooted, flashed RA 123, 151 & then 152. I backed up, ran an optimizer .zip file, restored, flashed fresh 1.0 and learned some very cool stuff. I'm comfortable in the terminal but I'm getting to where I'm not sure what I should or want to learn next. Also, although I've done these things easily half of it was just copying instructions from one of the fantastically helpful posts on this forum. Before I learn what to do next I'd like to understand the system better. I checked out wiki and ended up bookmarking a page that explains kernal computing, and a few others, lots of reading ahead
As a noob I have tried to learn without getting in the way too much. I'm glad you admitted your noobness and asked for some direction, you're not the only one who could use it!
obelisk79 said:
As flipz stated, there's no good centralized place for organized information. The best advice is truly to search this site, and search with google. It's an uphill battle getting that base of knowledge built up to get you going. I know, I'm still working my way up the hill. I thought about putting a site together to organize and share information but that would take away too much from what little time I have to spend on rom developement.
I doub't that is really the answer you were hoping to get but unfortunately thats the grim reality of things. Perhaps someone with a lot more free time than I, will put together a site of their own and compile and organize all kinds of good information in a central place. It would truly be a boon to the android community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like what the original replyee said but said much more tact.
I'm hoping that was a compliment in a round about way.
THIS is an amazing resource. I've stopped in there before but wasn't ready to poke around too much.
I'll see you guys/gals in the spring!
I'd like to offer some insight, but there's really not much more I could add than what's already stated and linked above. Everything you need to know can be found (usually) easily on the android developer site, or in a google search. The hard part is putting those pieces together to know what needs to be done in order to accomplish what. That's not an easy task: check out cyanogen's github projects (http://github.com/cyanogen). He's made modifications to the kernel, Android applications, core frameworks, configurations, recovery images, packaged resources/images, and more. It's not just one piece that goes into these builds.
Most of what you see around here (and this is certainly not to take away from all the great work I'm referring to, because this is just as important as everything else), are people modifying what was already done somewhere else, and making it work for their own phone. And really that's all it takes to move progress forward.
You don't have to be a linux whiz or a Java programmer to be able to make progress with your phone- you just need to understand how each particular piece works in order to make progress on that piece. If you want to make a theme, you need to know what jar or apk files contain the resources, and how to replace those images and styles. If you want to add support for the camera you need to know what linux driver it should use, and how Android expects to interact with that driver. Same for supporting accelerometer sensors, etc.
There's no definitive checklist of things you have to know before you can help development, it just depends on what what you want to help with, and your willingness to research how that particular piece works and what it would take to make the necessary changes.
maejrep,
Informative and encouraging. Thanks!
I'm looking to develop android apps and I basically want to dissect a project to better learn the mechanics.
I recently started poking around with Tedd's Droid Tools to tweak it to be more friendly for the sense UI on my G2.
Its open source and made in Eclipse.
The Android Examples that come with the SDK were really helpful when I first started developing.
I'd love to find a few projects to disect as well, I just made a "HelloWorld" app, but I don't really know what's going on with it, so having examples to look at and seeing what each bit does would be fantastic.
Could someone point us in the right direction to find some?
Thanks
http://developer.android.com/resources/index.html
was that really that hard?
Ah right, thank you.
I'd looked at that site but it confused me slightly, I've got it now though thanks
I was wondering if anyone else who is computer illiterate like me is very interested in learning how to create kernels, roms, themes... and anything else under the sun that deals with android software.
Anyone else interested in becoming a dev like those helping us out with froyo and whatnot?
I'm on Google now... I guess I'm looking for help on where to start. Like from square one... any nice guides you brainiacs could show us noobs?
I wouldn't mind teaching myself from the ground up just by reading internet guides - I enjoy both reading and learning.... I could see myself developing stuff for our community as a fun hobby.
If you would like to help me, think of me as an old man who's never owned a cell phone or a computer till now. That's how far back I'd need to go to learn, I have no experience in computer programming at all.
Since I got my fascinate and stumbled across xda, I've just been, well... fascinated with android and the mechanics behind it all. And the great devs that make this possible for our nice little community here!
So... you other noobs and pros out there wanna help each other out by sharing guides and experiences?
sent from my beast of a phone
My wife is on a 2 month vacation and I'm about to have a lot of spare time....
I want to learn the android platform properly from the ground up.
I own a TF and an HTC HD2. I have already been through the learning curve of rooting, flashing ROMs, installing CWM, pushing and pulling files with ADB and setting permissions - but I've always done this by following instructions from other on threads here at XDA. I'm skilled with computing in general (particularly telephony, networking and web) but am pretty N00bish with Linux and currently suspect that Java is witchcraft.
I try really hard to look stuff up for myself instead of asking questions so please be nice because I'm not asking for a handout. There are so many threads on here and I don't know which are still relevant etc...
Can anyone please direct me to some resources for learning the real "nuts and bolts" of Android?
I have a couple of months to work really hard at this and then I will try and contribute as much back to the community as I can.
Read all of Googles documentation on Android if you wanna know about it. Read man pages and everything else if you wanna learn Linux.
eli.kennedy said:
My wife is on a 2 month vacation and I'm about to have a lot of spare time....
I want to learn the android platform properly from the ground up.
I own a TF and an HTC HD2. I have already been through the learning curve of rooting, flashing ROMs, installing CWM, pushing and pulling files with ADB and setting permissions - but I've always done this by following instructions from other on threads here at XDA. I'm skilled with computing in general (particularly telephony, networking and web) but am pretty N00bish with Linux and currently suspect that Java is witchcraft.
I try really hard to look stuff up for myself instead of asking questions so please be nice because I'm not asking for a handout. There are so many threads on here and I don't know which are still relevant etc...
Can anyone please direct me to some resources for learning the real "nuts and bolts" of Android?
I have a couple of months to work really hard at this and then I will try and contribute as much back to the community as I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. You sound like me coming jumping into DOS back in the day. There are plenty of books available (and XDA of course) but ya know.....I learned more from screwing up my old IBM 8088 (orange display...yikes!) than almost anything else. Having the possibility of an expensive paperweight tends to REALLY motivate one to learn!
You're in the right place, IMO, for specific task-assistance. (If ONLY XDA existed in the early-mid 80's!) There's a wealth of information and tons of good people who were where you are now. Willing to pay it forward....search the forums and ask.
Reading...experimenting...reading....experimenting....and of course...BACKING UP are great tools and habits.
i had an old computer from work and installed Ubuntu on it to mess around with linux. I haven't tackled java yet, but that is on the agenda. Get familiar with the command line!
Hello! I am a new comer into the world of Android Development, I do have a begginer to intermediate Java knowledge, but no Android Development knowledge.
I am asking you for some good tutorials I can use to help myself, preferably newer ones. I found a few, but all of them were 2-4 years old. And other thing I noticed at them is they all use Eclipse. Is it a big difference if I use IntelliJ, it's the IDE I'm most familiar with and I find going back to Eclipse very annoying.
I want to start developing Andoid application because I have a few cools ideas (or at least I think they're cool) for some applications, as well as games. But I don't want to rush right inot making the game or such, I have all the time in the world to learn how to properly develop Android applications.
Thanks for reading!
Hello RoPirate
You say you already find a few tutorials, could you share them please, I'm a beginner please thanks
Tutorial
The New Boston mainly, ando ther very bad and unclear ones.
Right now I found teamtreehouse.com it's paid, but they explain everything really nicely and good, and update the tutorials with new tools when they come out. They also have iOS developemnt, web development, web design, Python and lots of other nice tutorials.
If you decide to get a subscription there (had some doubts at first too, but I definitely do not regret buying the subscription) and want to help me out a bit you can sign up on my referal link (PM me if you want)
I want to chime in a recommend the Codepath Android Cliffnotes set of guides. It's well built, and very useful.