Another day another tutorial recommendation

I think I'm going to have to keep a list of tutorials that have been suggested to me somewhere! Thanks to helium from a forum I visit who has suggested:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/10/25/get-started-developing-for-android-with-eclipse/

Search Amazon.com for android

Android Market reaches 100,000 apps but does that really matter?

As has been reported by plenty of sites already, the Android Market has reached 100,000 apps. But should we care? The Apple App Store is at 300,000 but to be honest most of the apps I see when searching for with various key words are total guff. The same themes over and over again but tweaked slightly. An example is the World Cup themes for every team but each one a different app. 32 apps that could have been just one.

For me it is all about quality over quantity. That is why when I get to the point of releasing my potential apps I will do my best to make sure they are worthwhile releasing.

Weekend of no development(s)

This weekend saw a great F1 race and pretty much no development work. I read chapter two of the book which details information about debugging tools and using other tools to help with testing, such as send text messages to the virtual environment, make calls, browse the net etc. All very handy, saves building the app on my phone and wasting texts and minutes. Save wasting them on the final builds eh?!

Should I abandon Java and use phonegap... or both?!

Thanks to a recommendation via twitter from @Substitute79 (thanks very much!), I have had a quick look at http://www.phonegap.com/

Looks like at first glance that you can still use Eclipse but use HTML/Javascript/CSS etc... to produce applications... interesting... I think I will be spending some time with this along with the Java route. My findings, as ever, will follow!

Chapter 1... Hello World... Unsurprisingly

So into chapter 1 and the inevitable 'Hello World' app is dealt with. Now I've already tackled this in an on-line tutorial in the past so I knew where this was going. However this is where spending money shows it's worth. The book explains more of the finer details, why you are doing things, what each bit does along with some nice gentle exercises like adding more strings and changing the order they appear. The little end-of-chapter quiz is a little pointless for chapter 1 but I expect it will become a handy recall exercise in later chapters.

I still plan on looking at the on-line tutorials for a comparison with the book but also you never know what one misses the other may pick up on. Unfortunately the inevitable diversion in routes into Android development that both tutorials take are bound to differ very soon!

Amazon deliver

The Android developer book has arrived. Time to start!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yourself-Android-Application-Development-Yourself/dp/0321673352/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1287735283&sr=8-2-fkmr0

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Learning Android

So i've decided to spend my spare time learning to develop Android applications. I feel that the world is going mobile application crazy and you never know that one great idea might just be the killer app.

Why Android?

Well for starters I own an Android based phone. I'm not a fan of Apple. I love their products and given the right price and a change to more openness then things may be different. And the reasons for not liking Apple are the same reasons for liking Android. Open, cheaper and more accessible.

What next?

Now i've never developed in Java. ASP, VB, PHP is my lot so this is going to be tricky. Some say even harder than a complete programming newbie as I already have preconceptions as to how a programming language should work. Trying to fit new syntax into my head wont be easy.

Right so I've installed Eclipse, downloaded the latest SDKs from Google and got some links to a few tutorials as well as Amazon sending me a book or two on the subject of beginning Android development. Here is a link to those tutorials I plan on tackling:

Part 1: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/130052-android-part-i-welcome-to-android/

Part 2: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/130264-android-part-ii-a-simple-ui-with-events/

Part 3: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/130521-android-part-iii-dynamic-layouts/

Part 4: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/130762-android-part-iv-databases-and-menus/

Part 5: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/131121-android-part-v-signing-and-publishing/

Here goes, wish me luck...