Database Users

[Q] Reading materials and tutorials for a noob programmer

Well, I've started learning Java and I read somewhere that Java is used to program apps for Android. Now, I'm not looking to make complex games and apps, more like a "database" app to store data and maybe some form of note taking application to start off with. Can you guys recommend reading material, tutorials and programs to further my eduction? I've hit a bit of a rough spot so far.

Android has a notepad tutorial you can start there for free lol
http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/notepad/index.html
And when I started most people said "Hello, Android" was the best for beginners.
You can also check www.apress.com they have a decent array for books for android,java...etc Any of those books can be purchased from them directly or from amazon.com

FreeTheWorld said:
Android has a notepad tutorial you can start there for free lol
http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/notepad/index.html
And when I started most people said "Hello, Android" was the best for beginners.
You can also check www.apress.com they have a decent array for books for android,java...etc Any of those books can be purchased from them directly or from amazon.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Apress books are very helpful with the examples in code. It helped me a lot and it still does. I've got Beginning Android 2. I didn't read the book from a to z, I just started trying stuff and search a lot on the internet, there are a lot of examples out there.

my favorite eclipse/java learning tips
i spent 25+ years developing on mainframes, then windows pcs, and now phones! what a ride!
my biggest hurdle was transforming my development thinking style from linear (fortran-77, Macro-32, pascal, assembler...) to the object-oriented mode. Classes, instantiation, "this", blew me away for awhile....ok, still does sometimes...
I programmed for the windows mobile phone for 2 years and wrote most of the stuff in lua. You can see some of the windows mobile clocks i designed here:
http://cid-cac4c4d76bc3616d.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Windows%20Mobile%20Phone%20Development
here are the books and web sites that have helped me the most:
"Hello, Android", The Pragmatic Programmers, Ed Burnette, ISBN: 978-1-93435-656-2
"Beginning Android Application Development", Wrox, Wei-Meng Lee, ISBN: 978-1-118-01711-1
here are several great web sites:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/graphics/2d-graphics.html
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/package-summary.html
http://developer.android.com/resources/browser.html?tag=article
and a website with lots of examples:
http://www.java2s.com/Open-Source/Android/CatalogAndroid.htm
I hope those help.

mncessna said:
i spent 25+ years developing on mainframes, then windows pcs, and now phones! what a ride!
my biggest hurdle was transforming my development thinking style from linear (fortran-77, Macro-32, pascal, assembler...) to the object-oriented mode. Classes, instantiation, "this", blew me away for awhile....ok, still does sometimes...
I programmed for the windows mobile phone for 2 years and wrote most of the stuff in lua. You can see some of the windows mobile clocks i designed here:
http://cid-cac4c4d76bc3616d.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Windows Mobile Phone Development
here are the books and web sites that have helped me the most:
"Hello, Android", The Pragmatic Programmers, Ed Burnette, ISBN: 978-1-93435-656-2
"Beginning Android Application Development", Wrox, Wei-Meng Lee, ISBN: 978-1-118-01711-1
here are several great web sites:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/graphics/2d-graphics.html
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/package-summary.html
http://developer.android.com/resources/browser.html?tag=article
and a website with lots of examples:
http://www.java2s.com/Open-Source/Android/CatalogAndroid.htm
I hope those help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a million. I will definitely be buying those books, and thanks for the extra links!
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

mncessna said:
i spent 25+ years developing on mainframes, then windows pcs, and now phones! what a ride!
my biggest hurdle was transforming my development thinking style from linear (fortran-77, Macro-32, pascal, assembler...) to the object-oriented mode. Classes, instantiation, "this", blew me away for awhile....ok, still does sometimes...
I programmed for the windows mobile phone for 2 years and wrote most of the stuff in lua. You can see some of the windows mobile clocks i designed here:
http://cid-cac4c4d76bc3616d.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Windows Mobile Phone Development
here are the books and web sites that have helped me the most:
"Hello, Android", The Pragmatic Programmers, Ed Burnette, ISBN: 978-1-93435-656-2
"Beginning Android Application Development", Wrox, Wei-Meng Lee, ISBN: 978-1-118-01711-1
here are several great web sites:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/graphics/2d-graphics.html
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/package-summary.html
http://developer.android.com/resources/browser.html?tag=article
and a website with lots of examples:
http://www.java2s.com/Open-Source/Android/CatalogAndroid.htm
I hope those help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool work by the way
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Thanks a million guys ,you've all been extremely helpful!
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Guys, is it better to study java first or go straight to android codes?
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iynfynity said:
Guys, is it better to study java first or go straight to android codes?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd not wrote any code in java before I've started building apps for android. Only experience with VHDL, TCL, Makefiles and the basis of C++ and visual basic.
I think it is good to know the basis of Java and OOP but not necessary to be a java pro before you can start with android.
I've learned most from just start with simple android examples an try to understand what they do. If you have a question look on the internet and if you can't find the answer, just ask the question. There are a lot people willing to help.

I usually use the stackoverflow website (http://stackoverflow.com) to post my questions and looking for answers. When you'll be deep in development, these guys will be useful

[Q] Are there any scripting APPs for the iPad?

i'm just starting out with coding and i was wondering if there any apps for the iPad that implement javascript? I know it's rather ironic to be coding on java with an iPad but since I am stuck in college for long periods of time, its the only convenient way for me to learn it and because i have books teaching me java, it would be awesome if i could test out the codes using an iPad.

You're confusing your terms a bit. You mentioned both Java and Javascript and although they have a similar name, the two languages share very little in common.
If you meant to ask if the iPad could run Java code, the answer would be no, not natively. I don't have an iPad to test, but this site, ideone.com, is able to compile and run many languages including Java.
If you meant to ask about Javascript, the of course you can run it in any browser including Safari. Javascript is not a compiled language like Java so it's requirements are a lot lower in terms of runtimes.

At this forum not many members own an iPad. Ask at an Apple forum.

[Q] Any tools for making interactive presentation for N10?

Hello guys
Please excuse me if I'm posting it in the wrong place. I'm not very sure where to turn for assistance, and I hope you would be so kind
to share your expertise.
My dad runs a small tobacco shop. Even tho there are only two tables and 8 chairs, people like to hang out there. Almost daily, my dad
needs to explain the difference between varies cigars, pipes design and materials etc... This is very time consuming and repetitive, and he
is the only person running the shop.
I have experience with design, but not programming. So I wanted to develop a presentation with list of products, description, ratings, maybe include some videos he gets from his suppliers and the like. I don't know how to make it into an app, and he can't afford to have custom design and develop app just for that one Nexus 10 he owns.
Are you aware of any tools, apps or ways to port stuff designed in any of the Adobe product to a tablet? Make it interactive to a degree without actually building of a full blown app just for that?
Thank you very much for taking the time to read,
have a great day ahead
regards
Seba

Seba,
I suspect you will get various fancy tool answers but a thought is to create a web page with links to video(s)/pictures and keep the web page plus video/pictures on the Nexus 10's sdcard. Most browsers can read and display a local html file. All links (html, jpg, videos) would be relative to the directory you store the first (index) html file.
Sometimes a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) solution can serve you very well. Many Web page authoring tools are free and all the development can be done and mostly tested on a regular PC/MAC. Then just copy the files to the Nexus 10 SD card for final testing.
Just a thought, again I do not know if Nexus 10 browsers can display local html files as I have not tried it myself. You can test that fairly easily. I would create a very simple web page with some text, and include an image link and a video file link, then you would know.

Fantasy Football Draft App_idea

So, I wish i were a developer, id just do this myself, but unfortunately, looking at code is literally a foreign language for me.
There is currently no Fantasy Football Draft companion app on Windows 8 - this could be huge, and probably not very difficult to make. All we need is something that lists the players by rank, maybe link to ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, ROTO, etc. rankings.
Give option to strike out players picked by other teams, and to add players to your team. Bye weeks should always be visible next to players you pick, and players that are available. Maybe be able to export team list to excel, or word, or something like that.
Id pay 5$ for the app........Im sure there are many other football fans out there like me that would do the same.
Make sure to be able to save a team, start new team for those with multiple FF leagues.
Thanks!!

UBNAS81 said:
So, I wish i were a developer, id just do this myself, but unfortunately, looking at code is literally a foreign language for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always learn. For reference, if you were to develop a windows 8 app you would most likely use C# (no real relation to C/C++) however you can use VB.net, managed C++ and I think there are ways of using a few other .NET based languages too.
Otherwise, I have no idea what fantasy football is so I will be of little assistance, sorry.

C# programming - anyone use Xamarin?

Has anyone used Xamarin to build their android apps? I have been programming using C# for sometime now but have never used it to build anything for android.
They have tons of free libraries, but as for licensing, I am skeptical in purchasing. Anyone like or dislike Xamarin? If you do or do not, can you explain why? Thanks a bundle!

Haven't used it but you have to think whether it's worth the price. The advantage is you can write in C# and share code between Android/iOS. However the UI is still platform-specific, so it has to be implemented twice. A free alternative is to use C++ for shared code (Android: via NDK, iOS: compiles directly), but that definitely needs more initial setup effort than buying Xamarin's product.

Here is an informed opinion
There is a gaming studio that used Xamarin to port their WP stuff to Android and iOS, and they're quite happy with how it turned out.
Do a search for "FourBros Studios, Cross-Platform Game Development with Xamarin and MonoGame". I can't post a direct link because of forum rules here.
Of course games are entirely different beasts than regular apps (for example, UI-wise), so not everything may apply to your situation.

I've plaid with Xamarin... and its a good system.. but Is it worth $300 to not learn java?
Cross platform development tools have their place, but IMHO unless you have a large project and NEED a cross platform development tool you are hurting yourself by not going native.
Just my .000002c

Java is so similar to C# I would think you'd be fine just going native - in terms of syntax they're virtually identical. I do kind of miss the var keyword though lol
I agree with LostByte - there's no real point to going cross platform unless you really need it. Don't stay with C# just because it's what you know! Use what's most appropriate for the app