If i wanted to help dev for this xda scene and android in general, what language (programming) should i used first?
I know android is in C and java, but just wondering, i really wanna get started
I'm very interested in some basic knowledge as well. I've done some very basic C++ stuff years back, but know nothing of linux. I'd love to star this as a hobby and if nothing more be able to try to read the code and understand what others are making. Anyone have any good links to some starter guides?
I believe it Java
Beastclaw said:
I believe it Java
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for linux? arent kernels and stuff based in c?
Depends on what you're doing, apps and such are done in Java and XML, but the framework for android is done in C/C++ (best I can tell, I've never made mods to a rom or anything, maybe when I have more time in a couple of weeks).
For C, I like King's book (and it seems to be a popular one):
http://knking.com/books/c/
The first edition can frequently be found for <$10 if you look enough, and needless to say that the basic concepts of the C language haven't changed enough (at all?) to warrant paying SO MUCH MORE for the 2nd edition.
For Java, well I have a couple of books but neither are great. Somebody else probably knows of a book or site. Once you pick up basic Java, look at Google's guides to programming for Android, it contains the little details you'll need to make the code do what you want in the phone.
jasoninator said:
Depends on what you're doing, apps and such are done in Java and XML, but the framework for android is done in C/C++ (best I can tell, I've never made mods to a rom or anything, maybe when I have more time in a couple of weeks).
For C, I like King's book (and it seems to be a popular one):
http://knking.com/books/c/
The first edition can frequently be found for <$10 if you look enough, and needless to say that the basic concepts of the C language haven't changed enough (at all?) to warrant paying SO MUCH MORE for the 2nd edition.
For Java, well I have a couple of books but neither are great. Somebody else probably knows of a book or site. Once you pick up basic Java, look at Google's guides to programming for Android, it contains the little details you'll need to make the code do what you want in the phone.
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Thanks a lot for the reply! I will look into some book whenever I can, for now, its Google
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I just started working on programming apps for the droid a few nights ago. I started out with:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/write-google-android-application/
After that I went to the Android Tutorials located at:
http://developer.android.com/resources/browser.html?tag=tutorial
Yesterday I purchased Beginning Android Application Development. This has been a good book so far, only on chapter 2 but I've learned a few things in just the HelloWorld app that I didn't learn with the Google Tutorials.
Today I ordered Java Programming 24 Hour Trainer. I am having a hard time finding a good starting Java book but this looks to be the best I could find. I haven't had any hands on with this book yet so I can't give ya my thoughts on this one yet.
Hopefully this helps ya out a little. Good luck!
If you're looking to do native applications that anyone can run, Java with the android SDK is what you need to learn. However, technically you can program in about any language on android, but it generally requires extra installing (which many would consider bloat). Easy to install languages are ones like python http://pygame.renpy.org/. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2476649 and http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/wiki/SharingScripts. Since android is linux, you can put pretty much anything you want on there as long as you can get past compiling things with the ARM toolchain. You could even stick a small web server on it if you really wanted like nginx or lighttpd.
You could do quite a bit in a web "application" as well if you have hosting somewhere. The native browser and ones like opera and firefox can render just about any sort of ajax initiated effect. The advantage to doing this would allowing what you do to be OS neutral, so it could run on any device, not just android. Obviously, the drawback would be performance.
There is another project besides the python one above for additional languages here http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/. This supports python, perl, beanshell, bash and lua (as well as contains interpreters for testing code in all of them).
If you're looking to do development for those of us that have rooted and such, C would be the better option (assuming you're interested in kernel and android source code development).
The community (free) version of Intellij IDEA IDE has pretty good android development support (as well is general java support) and testing (junit, phpunit, etc). They're running a 40% off sale currently as well to buy the full IDE (which supports many other programming languages like php, python, ruby, javascript, etc).
Well worth the money imho; I used netbeans, eclipse (which also supports android development through a plugin) and several other IDEs before it and would never go back. They actually care and reply to bug reports you file as well. I've submitted 2 in the past few months and both have either been partially fixed or will be fixed in the next version. They also give roadmaps of what will be in upcoming versions and are very open about software issues and public relations. You'd think such things would be normal for professional apps, but you would be shocked.
http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/
If you're looking for decent books, usually the O'Reilly ones are good (the books with the animals on the front) http://oreilly.com/store/. O'reilly has at least one book that's recent on Android development. Books published by Apress tend to be pretty good as well.
the android kernel is in C, so you would need to know C++ to play aroudn with ROMs and kernels. to just write an app, you only need to know java.
i just wrote my first app last year, and even made my first kernel to go along with it. granted the kernel i only changed one file, a couple hunder lines of new code. and the app was a great starter project for anyone in this position, had a few different semi easy activities, a 4 tabbed app, to show and learn how it all works together.
great experience, just hit me up if you have specific questions.
So I recently got a couple books on Android development. One being Beginning Android Games and the other being Professional Android Development. Now I've been wanting to make a game for Android lately so the question is which book should I read first? Should I start with the other stuff to get a better grip on the Android OS, or should I just go with what I already want to do.
Here are some things that should help in giving any advice (which I appreciate greatly):
I have a decent (beginner-intermediate, closer to intermediate) grip on Android and understanding of it
I have an intermediate understanding of Java. I can program GUI programs for desktop ect
I understand Android API's and such
I've started taking up java and would like to try my hands at android.
I'm going into computer Science at my university and have been taking a Java programming class this semester.
I kinda assumed that I was learning the correct syntax needed to program in Android since I thought it was mostly java based, however ever project we've done (and will do, according to the professor) was based on importing a java library called objectdraw.
I guess my question is weather or not I can import objectdraw into an android app project.
or is there an android version?
any help would be greatly appreciated.
What parts of the objectdraw library do you generally use? I'll be happy to give you some pointers on the Android equivalents (if you don't get an answer to your question)
well, I'm pretty new at it all,
so far we've been creating objects such as rect tangles (framedRect) and other shapes.
asking you to define all of them for me would be a pain for you.
but you did answer my question which was whether or not I would simply be able to use the same commands.
any other tips for someone who's just beginning?
I'd recommend digging through the sample apps that come with the Android SDK. You'll probably find a lot of useful drawing stuff in there, and one or two of them could be a good base project to start from when writing your own apps.
G'day.
I'm trying to get started developing Android applications but I have hit a bit of a wall.
I've been learning Java, and finally downloaded the Android SDK yesterday. The official Android Developers site says that Android applications are built using Java, but when I started following the "getting started" tutorial I quickly realized that it is not really using Java, and i hardly recognize a thing.
After a bit of searching I found that Android apps do not use Java, they use.... 'Android.'
Now, I understand that the Android language is based on Java, but I still can't help but feel as though I've been wasting my time when I could have been learning Android directly.
My questions are:
1. What is the best non-YouTube resource for learning Android? (I don't have unlimited internet)
2. Why does the Android site claim that it's apps are built with Java?
3. Why didn't they just actually use Java? Why did they have to modify it into a different language? Is it to purposefully make things more complicated and annoy people, or is Java too limited for mobile apps?
Thanks.
I don't know if you remember the big Google/Oracle (developers of Java) lawsuit a while back, although it is unrelated to Java itself, that is probably one of the reasons AOSP decided against using the actual Java language in creating apps. Since it's based on Java, people who have some Java experience would probably have a head start than someone with no Java experience.
To answer your first question, your best bet would be to go to a bookstore like Barnes and Noble and buy an Android development book. They have plenty of books out there for developing for Android and does not require the internet.
Hello! I am new to this forum so i could have posted this into wrong section.
I want to start learning how to develop apps for android, but the thing is, i am not able to do it on PC.
Could someone tell me what android applications i need to get, to fully develop an application, which is made in the same quality as it would be made on PC. ( everything, not just programming). At the moment i got only AIDE ( Android IDE ), but i dont think that AIDE is enough to fully develop an application. If its not possible to do 100% of work on android tablet, please tell me. Thank you for your answers!
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Personal advice
Hi, I do have first hand experiene with Android IDE and it's OK if your not able to use your development PC and your really inspired to write some code but you most def will need an external keyboard/mouse if your going to write something bigger than a 'hello world' program. Don't get me wrong, AIDE will get the job done but it will take you much longer, i.e. a single small screen with limited ram/processor does not help.
I don't know your situation for not being able to do it on a PC but if you are serious about becomming a developer then an investment in a desktop/laptop should be at the top of your list, but if you want to test the waters first and all you have access to is a tablet with AIDE then I say go for it, I just hope that the limited enviroment does not discourage you, programming is fun and rewarding if you have the right tools.
Do you have any experience programming?
If not I would recommend you follow the Newboston series of videos for beginning programming with Java first before jumping into Android development, I say development because writing apps for Android consists mostly with writting Java that uses the provided Android API's.
Newboston beginning programming with Java video series (He uses Eclipse here but you can ignore that and just type the same code)
http://thenewboston.org/list.php?cat=31
Newboston application Android development (If you try to complete this without any Java knowledge you will cripple you chances of success)
http://thenewboston.org/list.php?cat=6
Excellent resources provided here at XDA for Android development
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/want-to-learn-how-to-program-for-android-start-here/
p.s. You would be suprised at how cheap you can find a used PC on craigslist, you don't need a gaming monster but get something that is multi-core with at least 4gigs of RAM.