Hi folks!
Please forgive me if this is the wrong forum to post a general question about mobile app development..
So my story is that I'm mostly a graphics guy who got asked by a good friend to design a logo for his company. From there I got talked into designing his website and then into building his site. I can throw sites together but I'm no a web programmer and I advised him to hire some real web developers but aside from the fact that I would cost him less, he has trust issues and only wants to work closely with a friend ( me) and trusts my judgement and sense of design. So now I'm trying to mastermind his web presence from the front end to the back end, learning as I go. It's actually TONS of fun!
Then he came around one day asking to make him a mobile app. After the laughter subsided I explained to him the work and money that goes into that which really shocked him. However I told him I would look into what I could do for him, but that I was pretty sure this was out of my league.
I found some great services that will let you build basic mobile apps but now I've become VERY interested in the challenge of developing mobile apps from scratch and have decided to learn some programming languages to enable me to develop web/mobile apps. It seems that mobile platforms are poised to become the norm within the next decade and I would love to be part of its beginnings.
I have three questions:
1.Am I WAY out of my league here?
I ask this because a) I have NO programming experience. b) I ONLY want to use online sources and books, and c) Ideally I would like to be able to build my first app within a couple of months to a year at most.
2.What languages should I learn?
I'm feeling ambitious and want to be very thorough. I figured I should try learning c++ and Java (to an intermediate level). From there I could come around objective-C
3. the Jquery Mobile, HTML5 alternative?
I've noticed a small community of developers heralding HTML5 as the app-building tool of the future, together with JQUERY mobile...That sounds VERY appealing to me as someone who is more used to looking at web development code, and if something is 'the wave of the future' I definitely don't want to waste time learning languages that might become obsolete in a few years... But can you really build a powerful app with just these two tools?
If you've read through my entire post, I am grateful for your patience, and I hope to find some valuable insights on these forums.
Cheers!
I have read your entire post, and while I wish I could help, I'm afraid I'm in your exact situation and wonder about these things myself.
At least you got a small bump!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2
lenglain said:
Hi folks!
Please forgive me if this is the wrong forum to post a general question about mobile app development..
So my story is that I'm mostly a graphics guy who got asked by a good friend to design a logo for his company. From there I got talked into designing his website and then into building his site. I can throw sites together but I'm no a web programmer and I advised him to hire some real web developers but aside from the fact that I would cost him less, he has trust issues and only wants to work closely with a friend ( me) and trusts my judgement and sense of design. So now I'm trying to mastermind his web presence from the front end to the back end, learning as I go. It's actually TONS of fun!
Then he came around one day asking to make him a mobile app. After the laughter subsided I explained to him the work and money that goes into that which really shocked him. However I told him I would look into what I could do for him, but that I was pretty sure this was out of my league.
I found some great services that will let you build basic mobile apps but now I've become VERY interested in the challenge of developing mobile apps from scratch and have decided to learn some programming languages to enable me to develop web/mobile apps. It seems that mobile platforms are poised to become the norm within the next decade and I would love to be part of its beginnings.
I have three questions:
1.Am I WAY out of my league here?
I ask this because a) I have NO programming experience. b) I ONLY want to use online sources and books, and c) Ideally I would like to be able to build my first app within a couple of months to a year at most.
2.What languages should I learn?
I'm feeling ambitious and want to be very thorough. I figured I should try learning c++ and Java (to an intermediate level). From there I could come around objective-C
3. the Jquery Mobile, HTML5 alternative?
I've noticed a small community of developers heralding HTML5 as the app-building tool of the future, together with JQUERY mobile...That sounds VERY appealing to me as someone who is more used to looking at web development code, and if something is 'the wave of the future' I definitely don't want to waste time learning languages that might become obsolete in a few years... But can you really build a powerful app with just these two tools?
If you've read through my entire post, I am grateful for your patience, and I hope to find some valuable insights on these forums.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want an easy place to start I can recommend trying badic4android for the same reasons nasa use it, that it lets you create proper standalone android apps just as coding with java does but much quicker and easier. The site for it is basic4ppc.com if you want to check it out.
Failing that the traditional method is using the eclipse ide and android sdk to program in java.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk
mistermentality said:
If you want an easy place to start I can recommend trying badic4android for the same reasons nasa use it, that it lets you create proper standalone android apps just as coding with java does but much quicker and easier. The site for it is basic4ppc.com if you want to check it out.
Failing that the traditional method is using the eclipse ide and android sdk to program in java.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow thanks Dave I hadn't found this one, it seems like there are tons of resources to facilitate mobile app creation. I will probably look into these to create an app for the non-profit I work for. However, I still think I should learn some programming to become a bonafide app-developer somewhere down the line.
Do you think the objectives I've set myself (in regards to programming languages/rough time frame) are realistic?
lenglain said:
Wow thanks Dave I hadn't found this one, it seems like there are tons of resources to facilitate mobile app creation. I will probably look into these to create an app for the non-profit I work for. However, I still think I should learn some programming to become a bonafide app-developer somewhere down the line.
Do you think the objectives I've set myself (in regards to programming languages/rough time frame) are realistic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you can do it in two months with any language if you take time to study it, I tried learning java but have memory problems and so couldn't get to grips with it so I use basic4android because its very similar to languages I used as a student and was able to have a gps mapping app up and running in under an hour which surprised me.
Html5 apps can be used offline and are cross platform so would be the way to go for a wider user base as you can reach pc and smartphone users as well as those who use games consoles. You could find out more at http://diveintohtml5.info/offline.html
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk
Well I'm just a high school students but from the words of my teacher, as long as you have a mind that can write working algorithms and understand algorithms, languages are second hand, they're just tools.
Personally I find it true as I only know C yet if I look at a java code I can understand what the code does. But that might be because Java has some similarities to C, but I still appreciate the concept.
$1 gets you a reply
Programming is like any other skilled activity
I'm a life-long programmer. 33 years so far.
The quick answer is 'Probably.' You can probably write decent apps in the time frame you're looking at. I'd say you'll want to dedicate no fewer than 5 hours a day at it for that year. The simple truth is that unless you're that rare Mozart, you aren't going to write commercial quality code until you have lots of experience trying to write commercial quality code.
Hobby code... you can probably get hobby quality stuff going in a few weeks. Yes, it'll freeze and restart and throw bizarre errors, but still, that's a very cool thing.
The question then becomes one of defining the level of quality you're after and the time you're willing to devote to learning your craft.
Related
i would like to know if there are any devs out there who would mind maybe sending me any links that would better inform me as to how all this stuff works. i am intrigued with all the stuff you guys come out with and would love to be enlightened a little more on how it is put together. basically i want most of the things im reading about to make more sense to me.
I am not sure what kind of information you're looking for exactly. Your question is rather vague. However, here is an overall generic reply without further details to go on.
http://google.com
that's how i learn. seriously. if you want someone to hold your hand through it, go buy a book on software development or make friends with someone locally that's a computer scientist (or related field) and buy them some beers. If you're more interested in the theming of things, that doesn't take quite as to figure out, but would require some basic design knowlege or sources on how to aquire things if you cant design them. There's quite a few books out for android alone now if you look on amazon. I know o'reilly makes a good one.
I really dont think someone giving you a few quick links will get you very far from my own experience of teaching others. I've tutored a friend on software development and it can be a slow painful process to relate it to someone that has little to no background at first until it starts to "click" (some people it just never clicks because well, not everyone is cut out to do this stuff). After about a year, they finally had a decent grasp on how to develop, but it's something that takes years to really say "you're good" at it (unless you just make doing basic hacking and not really adding to things, that can be accomplished quicker).
Software development and hacking of already made software is something you generally learn best by experience (your own experience more so than others). Short of that, formal courses taught by a decent professor at a university will lay a foundation, but doesn't mean much if you do not add to it with your own bricks.
This is really overall a question you should ask in the general XDA forums or go to somewhere like stackoverflow.com (or their more mobile focused site, http://android.stackexchange.com/) and look for people who have already asked similar questions there. Have you tried to at least do a basic google search for something like android tutorials? If you cant show a little motivation and inspiration on your own, don't hold your breath for someone wanting to mentor you for free since no one wants to explicitly tell you everything all the time, it gets kind of annoying to have to lay things out always when common sense should at least take over sometimes. I know that last statement sounded a little harsh and blunt (and dont take it personally, I just want you to be realistic about it), but it's pretty true.
I think it's great you want to learn and are willing, but I don't think the answers you want can be answered in a thread discussion alone. Your best bet if you cant search for relevant information on the web on your own is to get start by buying a book as I mentioned or take some courses at a university or community college just on basic programming (language and os [so long as it's something linux/unix] doesn't matter so much as just getting the info). If you're too young for college courses, see if your schoool as an AP computer science course or something similar. I don't think anyone who is doing actual development on android got their start on android alone (by development I mean actually writing code, not theming or ripping a few small things out of already made code). It comes from building up and relating basic computer science concepts you carry over.
If you want to build applications for android and hack around on applications already made, learn Java.
If you want to learn how android os works and mod, develop and patch it, learn c and c++.
If you want to mod themes and make your own. Learn how to use a graphic design app like gimp, photoshop, etc and learn the structure of xml documents.
There are other languages that work on android as well (as well as web applications which language no longer matters), but those work on every android enabled device without addons/overhead.
In short though, there are no quick answers and no encompassing solution and any books you see that say "learn x in 24 hours or whatever" are full of s*it.
yareally said:
I am not sure what kind of information you're looking for exactly. Your question is rather vague. However, here is an overall generic reply without further details to go on.
http://google.com
that's how i learn. seriously. if you want someone to hold your hand through it, go buy a book on software development or make friends with someone locally that's a computer scientist (or related field) and buy them some beers. If you're more interested in the theming of things, that doesn't take quite as to figure out, but would require some basic design knowlege or sources on how to aquire things if you cant design them. There's quite a few books out for android alone now if you look on amazon. I know o'reilly makes a good one.
I really dont think someone giving you a few quick links will get you very far from my own experience of teaching others. I've tutored a friend on software development and it can be a slow painful process to relate it to someone that has little to no background at first until it starts to "click" (some people it just never clicks because well, not everyone is cut out to do this stuff). After about a year, they finally had a decent grasp on how to develop, but it's something that takes years to really say "you're good" at it (unless you just make doing basic hacking and not really adding to things, that can be accomplished quicker).
Software development and hacking of already made software is something you generally learn best by experience (your own experience more so than others). Short of that, formal courses taught by a decent professor at a university will lay a foundation, but doesn't mean much if you do not add to it with your own bricks.
This is really overall a question you should ask in the general XDA forums or go to somewhere like stackoverflow.com (or their more mobile focused site, http://android.stackexchange.com/) and look for people who have already asked similar questions there. Have you tried to at least do a basic google search for something like android tutorials? If you cant show a little motivation and inspiration on your own, don't hold your breath for someone wanting to mentor you for free since no one wants to explicitly tell you everything all the time, it gets kind of annoying to have to lay things out always when common sense should at least take over sometimes. I know that last statement sounded a little harsh and blunt (and dont take it personally, I just want you to be realistic about it), but it's pretty true.
I think it's great you want to learn and are willing, but I don't think the answers you want can be answered in a thread discussion alone. Your best bet if you cant search for relevant information on the web on your own is to get start by buying a book as I mentioned or take some courses at a university or community college just on basic programming (language and os [so long as it's something linux/unix] doesn't matter so much as just getting the info). If you're too young for college courses, see if your schoool as an AP computer science course or something similar. I don't think anyone who is doing actual development on android got their start on android alone (by development I mean actually writing code, not theming or ripping a few small things out of already made code). It comes from building up and relating basic computer science concepts you carry over.
If you want to build applications for android and hack around on applications already made, learn Java.
If you want to learn how android os works and mod, develop and patch it, learn c and c++.
If you want to mod themes and make your own. Learn how to use a graphic design app like gimp, photoshop, etc and learn the structure of xml documents.
There are other languages that work on android as well (as well as web applications which language no longer matters), but those work on every android enabled device without addons/overhead.
In short though, there are no quick answers and no encompassing solution and any books you see that say "learn x in 24 hours or whatever" are full of s*it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
very detailed answer, refered him to google like everyone else would have but done in a great way
Thanks
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I'm starting to watch a tutorial series on YouTube. Since xda is full of developers is there devs willing to throw in some wisdom/experiences/links/books/sample code/ whatever you think is beneficial? Long term goal is to make an android app of some kind. For now I'm learning the basics. Moral support is welcome since I'm pretty doing this on my own!
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jerrygooch said:
I'm starting to watch a tutorial series on YouTube. Since xda is full of developers is there devs willing to throw in some wisdom/experiences/links/books/sample code/ whatever you think is beneficial? Long term goal is to make an android app of some kind. For now I'm learning the basics. Moral support is welcome since I'm pretty doing this on my own!
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not a developer nor am I an expert but I have transitioned from a Java beginner to an advanced programmer in just a few months. I say "advanced" only because my college course instructor told me. However, I don't consider myself that advanced until I get a good amount of programming experience writing my own applications I feel confident enough to distribute. I have written a few personal apps including some Android ones but nothing I deem worthy enough to put on the market. Sadly, I learned more from the internet and a couple of Java books than I ever did in my college courses.
Some of the Youtube tutorials I have follwed are by mybringback and thenewboston. They both go from the most basic to more advanced levels of Java and both contain some decent tutorials on Android app development too. Although their methods are somewhat unorthodox and their commentary takes some getting used to, they do try to explain things in a way that's easy to comprehend.
As far as Java books, the only ones I bought are Learn Java in 24 Hrs sixth edition with a bonus Writing Android Apps chapter and Java Demystified and of course the book used for my advanced Java course -- strangely enough published in 2004. I suggest learning what you can online since internet information is updated much sooner and more often than physical books. As far as Android books, well, these can become outdated shortly after you purchase them. The last Android book I bought was when Gingerbread was all the rage. I suggest you don't waste your money on those books and just stick to internet tutorials.
Finally, I would steer you toward coderanch.com where you can get all of your Java questions answered by professionals and advanced users alike; there is even a forum catered to android development.
Java can be confusing and overwhelming for beginners, but don't give up because what confused you the day before will make total sense a few days later and hopefully that motivates you to further your knowledge; there will always be a need for programmers and developers.
I hope that helps and good luck on your programming journey.
Or basically a developer in general.
I know XDA probably gets a helluva lot of these threads regularly, but bare with me.
No I am not a script kiddy. Rather, I'm looking for somewhat of a career advice.
So please don't simply say: Learn C and Java.
That is already an imperative for me.
Here's the deal.
I'm in my final year of my schooling life, Year 12, and next year I will probably begin University (or what the U.S call College).
Important decisions need to be made, like what courses I want to do, what subjects I should take.
Now my ultimate goal in life (not really but you get what I mean) is to be able to do anything to my device.
Like when I was following the PSP dev community, it was incredible. Custom firmwares, homebrew, plugins, exploits etc.
It was awesome. And I want to be able to help and give back to the community.
And I also want to be independent.
Like if theres a bug or something I don't have to rely on the developer to fix it.
For example, my current rom has a random reboot problem.
I want to be able to find and fix the problem myself and add new features and stuff.
That's my ultimate aim.
To be able to legitimately own my devices to such a degree.
Currently my skill resides in web-based javascript, which isn't even legitimate javascript (not in my eyes at least).
I've done some programming courses at school and one year I did Pascal which helped me to get a basic idea of programming functions, like loops and basic practice etc.
But it still doesn't really help me with the two big languages C (#/++) and Java that I have yet to start learning.
Anyways, there's a point to this I promise.
There are 3 courses that I'm interested in Software Engineering, Advanced Computing and Computer Science.
I've looked at the course descriptions and they still all sound the same to me. Although Advanced Computing seems to be more Mathematical based.
But yea, I'm not sure which one will help me achieve my said aim.
Do you guys have any basic career advice? Better yet, any career advice that could relate to my situation?
Are any of you in University/College right now? What courses are you studying?
Perhaps you've already graduated and you're currently an employed developer or something. What courses did you take to get there?
I'm sure XDA isn't one of the best places to ask this kinda thing; heck I bet the first comment will be someone saying how this is in the wrong section or something.
But yea. I just want to help and contribute back to the community.
Legitimate advice is more than welcome.
Trolls and attention ____s please exit to the left.
Closed
Wrong section
Well the title says it all. I'm looking to start coding and was wondering if maybe i could get some help doing so maybe a mentor to help me. I downloaded eclipse and the SDK files i needed so i got the programs just need the teacher I won't make it a waste of your time im currently pressed for money. But once i get on my feet (a month or so) I will defiantly start paying you. I just can't afford college or id go there for it
I'll be making the leap soon too. While nothing beats one on one teaching... There are probably a small truck load of books on the topic. SOme decent google skills will help find those publications in PDF or various other formats. *shrug* That's how I'm going to go about it at least.
Depends how committed you want to be but im sure I can offer help. I am guessing you want to write apps and use java
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zacthespack said:
Depends how committed you want to be but im sure I can offer help. I am guessing you want to write apps and use java
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me im very committed ive been thinking about it for a long time and if i had the resources to go to college for programming i would. As for what I want to do yeah an app sums it up haha i know coding languages are all pretty similar so if i learn java i can figure C++ and others out.
I learned the basics of C++ by looking at the library and being, "hey what can I do with this stuff" and by looking at code others had written and trying to understand it / make it better / do something else.
I'm going back to de-rustify and learn much more (haven't coded anything since high-school) as well as java and just plan on using all the free on-line resources out there and doing what I did before.
I'm sure there are forums for this stuff where you can ask anyone who's reading questions. I know I used to be on one and I liked solving problems for people because I didn't have any ideas of my own but liked coming up with solutions to random crap. Which is probably a good way to learn, too - figuring out solutions to n00b problems and advancing from there.
The learning process in on-line tutorials is much more streamlined than that if that's how you prefer to learn.
Some on-line courses are also pretty cheap, as well as community colleges - and you might be able to get a grant / loan / scholarship. I would seriously see if you qualify for any financial aid if you're hurting for money and feel you'd benefit from a traditional (or on-line) classroom setting.
Hey folks, for a limited time, UDEMY is offering a bunch of courses for $10, such as:
Learn Android Development From Scratch (here https://www.udemy.com/learn-android-development-from-scratch/?couponCode=start10). This course normally costs $199.
Now, you can be productive in the forums!
You can see a full list of the $10 courses, including everything from How To Use Photoshop to C# Programming here: https://www.udemy.com/collection/limited-time-introductory-offer/?couponCode=start10
I bought into the course. If you want to wait and see what it's like, I'll do a review on my opinions of the course, but I have no idea how long this opportunity will last. I anticipate I'll finish the course by early next week (especially since I'm off work on Monday).
jparnell8839 said:
Hey folks, for a limited time, UDEMY is offering a bunch of courses for $10, such as:
Learn Android Development From Scratch (here https://www.udemy.com/learn-android-development-from-scratch/?couponCode=start10). This course normally costs $199.
Now, you can be productive in the forums!
You can see a full list of the $10 courses, including everything from How To Use Photoshop to C# Programming here: https://www.udemy.com/collection/limited-time-introductory-offer/?couponCode=start10
I bought into the course. If you want to wait and see what it's like, I'll do a review on my opinions of the course, but I have no idea how long this opportunity will last. I anticipate I'll finish the course by early next week (especially since I'm off work on Monday).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, if you're going to take this, you might also want this course:
Learn To Program With Java
https://www.udemy.com/learn-to-program-with-java/?couponCode=start10
PM'ed you... Want to learn this so badly lol. Gonna take some Computer Science after High School. Might as well try these also!
Sent from my Carbonized Blaze
xWolf13 said:
PM'ed you... Want to learn this so badly lol. Gonna take some Computer Science after High School. Might as well try these also!
Sent from my Carbonized Blaze
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be darned, I do have PM's
Ok, for everyone wondering, I highly suggest you know at least the basics of Java programming before attempting the android course. I dont know java, but I know enough of PHP, JavaScript, and a couple other languages to know the basics of simple coding (at least logic- and syntax-wise), and even I am having a hard time following this.
jparnell8839 said:
Ok, for everyone wondering, I highly suggest you know at least the basics of Java programming before attempting the android course. I dont know java, but I know enough of PHP, JavaScript, and a couple other languages to know the basics of simple coding (at least logic- and syntax-wise), and even I am having a hard time following this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It gets way easier the more you practice. It's really fun once you know what you are doing because there is so much you can do with the Android API. And it's very well documented by Google so if you ever have a question about a certain method, 99% of the time, there's an example on the Android Developers site.
Good luck to all Android Dev learners! My personal bit of advice: Don't give up if it seems hard, it gets better.