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I am not to sure if this is the correct area for this. But I am wondering how hard it is to make a Android game? This isn't something I want to just jump into, but learn while I am doing it and take my time.
So how challenging is it to someone who has no experience?
Thank You
Do you have any programming experience at all?
If you know languages like C++ or Java you're pretty close already. Android is programmed in Java, and you need to be familiar with Java's memory management to understand what happens behind the scenes since memory is critical on a mobile device. Also you should get some experience with multithreaded programming, since most times you'll need threads to complete tasks without getting the UI stuck.
Android uses a component based architecture that might be a bit unfamiliar in the beginning, since there's no 'main' entrypoint and you have to split your app into 'activities' that talk to each other through 'intents'.
Games present additional challenges, since they often require you to take care of several things involved with graphics and audio, so maybe they're not the ideal first step into programming.
I started programming for my phone on my Touch HD (windows mobile 6.5, using c#). I'd done some java (not a lot, really, and I hated it), some c (a bit, liked it much more) and quite a few script languages.
I have to say, I got into c# with the compact .NET framework VERY easily. It was very straightforwards, nicely syntaxed ... it was just programming as I'd known it. I've made some office apps, one or two games (just for fun, although the apps were meant to be sold ... **** MS for going wp7 and incompatible!; they were solid pieces of software engineering, if I say so myself)
Two weeks ago I got my Desire HD and a few books on programming Android ( O'Reilly, Sam's) and went looking through developer.android.com .
And I have to say, I find it hard! The concepts and how they work together are a bit ... uhm ... distributed. Good software design, but hard on the programmer (and ****ing verbose to actually type in the porgamming! Sheesh!). It took me a while to grok how all these systems are fitting together: to be honest, I'm still trying to make it all jell. All these intents, services, activities, broadcast receivers ... very interesting, but just thinking of the best (or even correct!) way of setting up your porgram is kinda difficult.
But, that's just me, in two weeks time in my spare time. I am getting it now and it is interesting (and, actually, very well set up for what they want android to do/be). c# was just easier, friendlier and faster to get into.
Sorry if this sounds negative: learning a new language isn't EASY, but it is FUN And very informative. If you have a few hours to start off with and then an hour a day, go for it ... but keep in mind there are easier/more straightforwards programming languages/environments than android (or so I think).
I would like to know this too because I got my HTC Wildfire for a few months now and I just rooted my phone yesterday to get into the whole development and modding.
I would like to learn how to make a widget first and then move onto a app/game. My goal would be to know how to create a 2D based side scroller, I would like to recreate "Bio Menace" for the Android. (I have the sprites and maps, now I only need to learn to make it into a game). (Bio Menace was my all-time favorite game when I was a child and I sometimes still play it on dosbox, but I would like to take it with me on transits to work)
I have no experience in Programming at all, I only did graphical stuff (Photoshop, 3DS Max) I know a little html for basic websites, but this was also more in Dreamweaver with the layout to designer.
So I found these books on android, but before I begin to read any of them. Can somebody tell me which book is best to start on first or which book to skip? I also like a video tutorial, but has anybody seen it? Is it any good?
Ebooks
Apress: Beginning Android 2 http://apress.com/book/view/9781430226291
Apress: Pro Android Games http://apress.com/book/view/9781430226475
Apress: Pro Android 2 http://apress.com/book/view/9781430226598
CommonsWare LLC The Busy Coders Guide to Android Development http://commonsware.com/Android/
Sam's Sams Teach Yourself Android Application Development in 24 Hours http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Android-Application-Development/dp/0321673352
O'Reilly Media: Building Android Apps with HTML CSS and JavaScript http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920010067
O'Reilly Media: Hello Android 3rd Edition http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356562
Video tutorial
O'Reilly Media: Developing Android Applications with Java, Part 1 http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920001690
Sorry to threadjack you, but it made no sense to me to start a new thread on the same topic. There really should be an own section for noobs or a good sticky with this kind of information for noobs.
lol Im in the process of learning java right now, basic java though.
Mathods
Interfaces
Static Methods
Im pretty interested in what I need to know for development on the andriod platform. By mid/late spring I should know quite a bit more. Taking an Advanced java course. Current I only know C#, C++, and Visual Basics.
Never worked on a GUI before =(.
Hey guys, as the title says i study computer science, and i use java and c#.
But its only on desktop platforms.
How much does it differ on an android platform?
Is it really just differences the APIs or is it a completely different approach to programming fundamentals?
Also what is the best way to go about developing? Can i get an SdK that plugs into netbeans or the like??
thanks
I too, study computer science - besides already working in these and related fields. My first impression of Android development is that there are a few paradigm differences that one has to accept.
For example, on desktop platforms, development and execution of applications follows a clear line through your code while on Android (and possibly other mobile platforms I am not currently aware of) your application architecture is based around the concept of activities. Traditional predictable execution like you would know it from a console application has to be emulated as the activities virtually replace the usual entry point (that would be, the main method or function). Anyhow, once you're actually developing anything serious, you'll get used to it pretty fast, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Furthermore, if you're coming from C# and have used WPF or Silverlight, the Android SDK/NDK does indeed look like hell to you. I came to Android and iOS development from C++ (indeed I have gained a lot of experience with C++; that's why I learnt C# and used WPF in a week's time) and at this point, you really start to feel how Android has grown very fast over the past 12 months. Deprecated APIs aside, it seems really hard to me to keep up with the developments so far.
What personally annoys me the most - that is, by far the most - is the Java programming language and it's omnipresence in the system. For an at least somehow experienced C++ programmer, the way concepts are implemented in Java, and this statement is not limited to Android in particular, seems awefully redundant and painful to use. But if you like it that way, you'll be fine. I have set up a template for myself so I can write most of my code in C or a bigger subset of C++ even though the NDK guidelines explicitly oppose it.
You are not limited to Java, you can use C and C++ through the NDK. I use the Eclipse IDE along with the ADT plugin, you could use Netbeans as well.
Hello everybody, long time lurker, first time poster. I'm posting to ask about where to get started in developing Android applications? I have half a degree in computer science, am familiar with coding, and work in Android software QA, but I'm trying to get my skillset up to the next level and actually start developing applications on Android. Is there any specific books or literature I should read to get me started on my journey? I'm also a long time IT guy on both Windows and Unix-based systems, so I'm by no means computer illiterate. I'm also a long time phone modder as I've been tweaking Android phones since the original G1 running 1.0. Thanks in advance!
Take a look at the Android Developer guide. It has samples and tutorials. If you google, there are also several free PDFs on the subject.
A good Java book will also help a lot. Just start to write a few trial apps and you will get there quickly!
The best place to learn for me, is android web page:
Here you have everything to start:
http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html
And to set up the environment for developing:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
If you want to learn from the scratch, the links I posted are your point. You can also take a look to the tutorials:
http://developer.android.com/intl/es...llo-world.html
You can also start with java, if you want.. I reccomend you take a look to this:
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tu...ava/index.html
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/
and start from Java SE 6 (http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/)
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/ja...sp-135888.html
I don't know what your college classes are like for CS, but you should have the basics of programming, why not start writing some Android apps?
Start with the basic "Hello World". Get used to working with main.xml and TextViews, EditViews, ListViews, Buttons and Listeners. Android is mostly JAVA, some Android-specific operations and your xml files.
Take some of your CS 101 type programs and try to write them on Android. The more programs you write, the more you learn.
Try to learn something new everyday and in no time at all you'll be impressed with how far you have come.
Rootstonian said:
I don't know what your college classes are like for CS, but you should have the basics of programming, why not start writing some Android apps?
Start with the basic "Hello World". Get used to working with main.xml and TextViews, EditViews, ListViews, Buttons and Listeners. Android is mostly JAVA, some Android-specific operations and your xml files.
Take some of your CS 101 type programs and try to write them on Android. The more programs you write, the more you learn.
Try to learn something new everyday and in no time at all you'll be impressed with how far you have come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes this is really a good advice
Just start writting little programs and you will go up soon
You could use the sample code that comes with the sdk, and start with different things: First, layout, xml and the like. You could then start with some othe things, like services, broadcast receivers, content providers, to get the feel of them. And finally, work with the hardware: Internet (wifi or 3g), bluetooth..
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At Barnes and Noble there is a book called Android App Development in 24 Hours. It is a freaking great book. Helped me a lot when I started. It breaks down the chapters in to hours with exercises and explanations. Being familiar with Java fundamentals would be good, but not necessary. The first couple hours(chapters) explains the a general overview of the history of the OS and helps you build your first app. My favorite part of the book is how it teaches you to build and app piece by piece over the rest of the chapters adding new features each hour. So, by the end you have and app with quite a bit of features that work and you actually understand how and why. At the end, you have an app that has a lot of Android features as well as knowledge of how they work and can be used. It doesn't go into the more advanced features, but it is well worth the money for beginners. I still use it as a reference because of the easy to understand instructions. Sometimes, the Internet guides assume you have been using Java for 10 years and skip how and why they are doing something. And even then I doubt every veteran Java programmer remembers everything. I am half asleep so forgive any grammar errors.
Ken
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger Gee Bees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVZ1P35xgNQ
Really good tutorial for the first basic steps. In terms of installing eclipse/java and hello world. He continues with his tutorial in part 2, part 3 and so on.
Android/fruItphone app. idea needs help...
If there is anyone who has knowledge on building apps for Android, I would be extremely interested to share with them an idea for an app. I'd hope this app would be able to work on that other fruIt based dumbphone, too.
Well, there is planty of developers out here I'm one of them (thought not the smartest ) so, if you want to share the knowledge, feel free to PM me
Hi everyone,
some days ago, i was substancially forced to join an Android project by my professor.
The fact is that his course was about C++ (your equivalent of that course should be Compuer Science II, and i have a good knowledge of C++), and this project is in Java. I have a little experience in Java (in fact, one of the courses that i am attending is focused on Java). Now, i think that in order to be a Computer Science engineer i have to fit myself to the situation ( i have some docs about the project) but i have no experience in Android app development and a very little knowledge of XML, so i ask you some help :good:.
What i have to do is to realize some GUI for his application. It is not very difficult, but i have no idea about from where i have to begin. In these 2 days i have managed to start some very simple application from Eclipse on my smartphones, but that's all, nothing more. So, is there any book or (better) some short guide or video to follow?
I use, as IDE, Eclipse (because i usually use it for Cpp, but some people said me that Android Studio should be better). I know that Eclipse is a really god IDE (For Cpp i tried also CodeBlocks, VisualStudio and Netbeans), but i know too that it raises some error that newbie user could not managed to solve easily: one of them is a java.lang.nullPointerException raised in every main.xml file...
Moreover, the project has to connect to a IBM Bluemix-stored database.
Last but not least please share a comment about my English (that, i have to admit, is not very good). I would really like to know how it - really - is.
(Excepting the typo in the thread title).
So, i ask you to kindly share resources (video, guides ...) about realizing GUI in Android.
Well first i'd recommend using android studio since it is the official ide for android by google, and I have worked with eclipse for 2 years and the android plugin is just too buggy.
About designing the ui it is usually done in xml rather than in code since its more intuitive and there is a preview.
You should start learning the basics and from there they teach you how to design the ui.
Try the official guide in the google developers section for android "developers android training"
Are you talking about https: //developer .android.com /training/index .html ?
Yes exactly, they have some nice guides there.
Here is a very nice guide for creating your first app in Android Studio: http://www.raywenderlich.com/78574/android-tutorial-for-beginners-part-1
Here is a layout tutorial: http://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/android-user-interface-design-layout-basics--mobile-3671
Here is a compilation of Android beginners tutorials: http://www.sitepoint.com/12-android-tutorials-beginners/
If you give a more focused description of what you are trying to achieve (what are you intending to display and how do you want to display it), more focused tutorials can be suggested.
Best of luck
EliteRazor said:
Hi everyone,
some days ago, i was substancially forced to join an Android project by my professor.
The fact is that his course was about C++ (your equivalent of that course should be Compuer Science II, and i have a good knowledge of C++), and this project is in Java. I have a little experience in Java (in fact, one of the courses that i am attending is focused on Java). Now, i think that in order to be a Computer Science engineer i have to fit myself to the situation ( i have some docs about the project) but i have no experience in Android app development and a very little knowledge of XML, so i ask you some help :good:.
What i have to do is to realize some GUI for his application. It is not very difficult, but i have no idea about from where i have to begin. In these 2 days i have managed to start some very simple application from Eclipse on my smartphones, but that's all, nothing more. So, is there any book or (better) some short guide or video to follow?
I use, as IDE, Eclipse (because i usually use it for Cpp, but some people said me that Android Studio should be better). I know that Eclipse is a really god IDE (For Cpp i tried also CodeBlocks, VisualStudio and Netbeans), but i know too that it raises some error that newbie user could not managed to solve easily: one of them is a java.lang.nullPointerException raised in every main.xml file...
Moreover, the project has to connect to a IBM Bluemix-stored database.
Last but not least please share a comment about my English (that, i have to admit, is not very good). I would really like to know how it - really - is.
(Excepting the typo in the thread title).
So, i ask you to kindly share resources (video, guides ...) about realizing GUI in Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can take a look at vogella web site tutorials
They have very usable tutorials, easy to understand.
Thanks everyone, i'll give a look to these resources
Do I need to learn Java to program in Android Studio? Or I can just jump straight into it? If I must learn it, can u guys show me a great way of learning Java? (I have a Pascal basic BTW).
You definitely must. Java is the main language for android development and without knowing it you can't do anything advanced.
To start learning you can use docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/. But learning is nothing without practice so start your own project and use Java in it. It's relatively easy language so you can start quickly.
s0nicyouth said:
You definitely must. Java is the main language for android development and without knowing it you can't do anything advanced.
To start learning you can use docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/. But learning is nothing without practice so start your own project and use Java in it. It's relatively easy language so you can start quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Brother i was also looking for some tutoral sites....and found nothing for my choice...i have basic knowledge in Java and Codes 2apps also..check my threads but can u plz send me some Video tutoral video for android app development i want to add advanced Features & libraries
ARGHA_DAS said:
Thanks Brother i was also looking for some tutoral sites....and found nothing for my choice...i have basic knowledge in Java and Codes 2apps also..check my threads but can u plz send me some Video tutoral video for android app development i want to add advanced Features & libraries
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are welcome. To be honest I don't know any video tutorial and personally I think the best way to learn programming is practice. So just use any Vogella's tutors and code your apps but always try to make them more complex.
Java is important for Android studio
Yes, you need to learn Java properly before visiting android studio.
Because Java is key to do programming in android studio for Android developers.
appninjaz.co.uk/services.html
I learned from a YouTube series called "mybringback" 5 years ago. It's still a good place to start. Also, a great website that interactively teaches you to code is Codecademy.com. They are mainly a web-development website, but recently added java to their courses. It may be worth trying as well.
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I have collected many good tutorials for Java and Android here.
Hope it helps
It best to learn Java, but today you can also use Xamarin to develop cross platform apps using .net (Visual Studio 2015).
java is main language to android studio
if you are using android studio, Java is a must. But you don't have to learn core java, you can just jump in to android programming, coz there are lots of different library there.
i would suggest using android studio instead of others, beside they are free, they are directly from google
Yes, java is must in order to develop android apps. Android virtual machine runs java codes. So android apps needs to be in java.
Now a days, there are so many frameworks and tools available which allow you to develop android apps in other languages and convert the apps developed in other languages to java code to deploy and run on android.
I think it is a good idea to directly code in java as you can easily understand concepts involved in android os and develop apps that perform well proving best user experience.. It is not difficult to learn java and android framework to develop android apps.
As others have pointed out, yes you must. However, if you have Pascal/Delphi background, that helps a lot! So loops/ifs/functions are no stranger to you. You "only" need to learn about classes, interfaces and such stuff, not very hard.
Luckily for you, there's literally thousands of Java tutorials, books, videos, anything you can think of. I always like to stick with books from respected authors and/or the language authors. So for Java, I'd go with https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/index.html (just an example, there's tens of other valuable books/tutorials).