This review is from: Hello, Android: Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)
This book covers a broad array of topics, it covers none of them in real depth and it is really really focused on Android – as opposed to Java. For my situation – it was perfect.
As a “read in a week, do the examples and lean a hell of a lot” type of book – it does the job well. If you know nothing about Android, want a crash course in the possibilities, and some basic intro on to how to realise them – this is the book you want. It’s short, it’s to the point and it will kick-start you into development. It’s also way more digestible than the online docs if you’re just starting out. It will not turn you into an Android development ace; although it’s such a new technology, you may be mistaken for one when you open your mouth. You’ll certainly be able to “talk” a reasonable game when you’re finished. If you are looking for a detailed Android reference or advanced programming manual type of thing – it’s the wrong book.
It focuses on Android – not Java. You will learn NOTHING about Java programming, the pages deal exclusively with the Android system, and how to program it USING Java.
The book is divided up into 4 sections:
Section I : Introducing Android ———————————— Chapter 1 : Gets the tools set up (Eclipse IDE, Android Development Kit plug-in and Android SDK) and has you compiling the obligatory “Hello World” project. Chapter 2 : Takes you on a 5 minute tour of the Android system from bottom to top. It’s useful, especially if like me you come from a non-mobile development context. Android handles application life-cycle differently because of the resource constrained devices it’s typically hosted by; this has major implications for your application implementation.
Section II : The Basics (Uses the construction of a basic Sudoku game as it’s vehicle for teaching throughout the section) ———————————— Chapter 3 : User interface (Screens, Dialogue boxes, Menus, Buttons etc.) Chapter 4 : 2D Graphics (draw your Sudoku grid / numbers) Chapter 5 : Multimedia (Audio / Video…to add those essential Sudoku sounds…) Chapter 6 : Storing Local Data (remembering Sudoku options – handling saving of current game data when the game is paused [e.g. when a call comes in mid-game and Android context switches out your application])
Section III : Beyond the Basics ———————————— Chapter 7 : The Connected World – using the phone browser / browser view, JavaScript, web services. Chapter 8 : Location and Sensing – using the host of other sensors (GPS, Accelerometer, light-meter, orientation etc) your device may have. Chapter 9 : SQLite – using the ever-popular SQLite embedded database that comes with Android. Chapter 10 : 3D Graphics – using the Android implementation of OpenGL.
Section IV : The Next Generation ———————————— Chapter 11 : Multi-touch – how to Chapter 12 : There’s no place like home – creating widgets / live wall-paper Chapter 13 : Write once, Test Everywhere – advice and tips on debugging / testing when faced with a large array of devices already in the wild. Chapter 14 : Publishing to the Market – a basic overview of getting your application to those fee-paying mobile junkies.
My one gripe with this book is in Section II – you’re in the mix…building Sudoku and it’s done in a nice, incremental manner: you write a little code, compile it up and see it run. Gradually the game comes together and you get a sense of satisfaction from watching it do just that. Then, at a certain point, you’ll find yourself writing code that uses functions you’ve not written yet….suddenly…POW…your code doesn’t compile and you can’t see the results of your new code. Obviously you dive forward, find the functions, implement them and hey presto, it compiles again. It’s not a terminal thing; just out of the blue and a little frustrating.
Overall – I thought this was a really good book for someone a) who knows a bit of Java b) doesn’t know Android at all. You could probably figure it all out from the online docs – but I bet you it will take a lot longer and won’t be half as pleasant an experience! I’d recommend it to anyone starting out with Android.
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This review is from: Hello, Android: Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)
Had a hard time choosing between 2 or 3 stars, but in the end “i don’t like it” is closer to the true than “it’s ok”.
As a starting guide to Android I was looking for detailed on the basics of Android such as Activities, Intents, Services, etc.. The information is there but it’s so sparse that it becomes quite hard to understand some things. The authors try to squeeze as many info as they can (they cover A LOT of ground) at the cost of leaving some things barely explained. e.g. It might be useful to add music to an application, but its something you can learn later with examples from the community, on the other hand, the usage of Intents to send/receive data from Activities is barely explained. The same goes to the use of Services. 3D graphics are also fun, but a chapter about Bluetooth would be a lot more useful…
The book is aimed at the “general purpose” multimedia application, in my case i’m more interested in data storing and processing so in the end “i don’t like it”
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Hello, Android: Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)
This book is great. What I like about it is that it isn’t hard to understand and covers all the bases, It’s not just a guide to one app (although the Sudoku game you make throughout the book is really worth going through) and goes through a small example for each area of development you could possibly need on the platform (working with databases or the internet it covers it all). Although this book is surprisingly (to me) thin (about the diameter of a 5p piece) it makes a nice concise guide to everything and is a perfect starting point for all your applications. Rather than just telling you how to do everything it explains basic applications thoroughly enough for you to flick to another part of the book or follow online advise and apply it safe in the knowledge that you know what you’re doing. It really covers all the stuff you want to know and also the stuff you might not have thought about such as how to actually set up your development environment, developing for different phone models and releasing you application. Having said all that as i’ve mentioned before it really is a back to the basics approach, great for someone entirely new to the platform but i’m not sure that anyone more advanced would gain much from it that they couldn’t already find in the google docs (which cover everything by the way, but if your looking at this book you probably already know that they can be a bit overwhelming to a newb)
I always find it helpful to know a bit about the background of a person reviewing a book like this, so: I’m an a-level computing student who already new VERY BASIC java/prgramming concepts. I think if you know the basics about declaring and using variables, the difference between methods and a bit about classes and how they work (me) then you should be allright with this book. As i am for the most part although i do wish i’d gone into it with a bit more experience passing data around, a big aspect of writing any application that i’m still not really sure about. If you aren’t familar with , the very basics of, java or a similiar language then you will probably find this book to advanced and i suggest you do some basic hello world type tutorials online first until you’re at about my level. When it comes to XML, turns out you don’t even need to understand it to use it :p. so don’t let having no clue about XML put you off it really is easy.
One last thing, thought i’d mention the support forum specifically for this book: It’s pretty good! not many people around who actually have the expertise to help you and it can seem very slow. BUT the actual author of this book frequents it every other day (give or take) and is very helpful and full of patience and teaching and all the good stuff.
If i had to fault the writing of this book the one think that’s a little frustrating is, as someone’s already said, when you’re following an example and your writing stuff for methods you won’t actually create for another 5 pages (so don’t freak out if your covered in squiggly red lines until you reach the end of the section). But on reflection I suppose this approach is better than him saying “now go back and add this little line of code in between these lines of code..”
All in all, this isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of android development books, but it’s definitely the best out there at the time of writing (i really did my research), particularly if your fairly new to programming and certainly android. And i would recommend it!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Up to date, broad, shallow and focused on Android,
This book covers a broad array of topics, it covers none of them in real depth and it is really really focused on Android – as opposed to Java. For my situation – it was perfect.
As a “read in a week, do the examples and lean a hell of a lot” type of book – it does the job well. If you know nothing about Android, want a crash course in the possibilities, and some basic intro on to how to realise them – this is the book you want. It’s short, it’s to the point and it will kick-start you into development. It’s also way more digestible than the online docs if you’re just starting out.
It will not turn you into an Android development ace; although it’s such a new technology, you may be mistaken for one when you open your mouth. You’ll certainly be able to “talk” a reasonable game when you’re finished. If you are looking for a detailed Android reference or advanced programming manual type of thing – it’s the wrong book.
It focuses on Android – not Java. You will learn NOTHING about Java programming, the pages deal exclusively with the Android system, and how to program it USING Java.
The book is divided up into 4 sections:
Section I : Introducing Android
————————————
Chapter 1 : Gets the tools set up (Eclipse IDE, Android Development Kit plug-in and Android SDK) and has you compiling the obligatory “Hello World” project.
Chapter 2 : Takes you on a 5 minute tour of the Android system from bottom to top. It’s useful, especially if like me you come from a non-mobile development context. Android handles
application life-cycle differently because of the resource constrained devices it’s typically hosted by; this has major implications for your application implementation.
Section II : The Basics (Uses the construction of a basic Sudoku game as it’s vehicle for teaching throughout the section)
————————————
Chapter 3 : User interface (Screens, Dialogue boxes, Menus, Buttons etc.)
Chapter 4 : 2D Graphics (draw your Sudoku grid / numbers)
Chapter 5 : Multimedia (Audio / Video…to add those essential Sudoku sounds…)
Chapter 6 : Storing Local Data (remembering Sudoku options – handling saving of current game data when the game is paused [e.g. when a call comes in mid-game and Android context
switches out your application])
Section III : Beyond the Basics
————————————
Chapter 7 : The Connected World – using the phone browser / browser view, JavaScript, web services.
Chapter 8 : Location and Sensing – using the host of other sensors (GPS, Accelerometer, light-meter, orientation etc) your device may have.
Chapter 9 : SQLite – using the ever-popular SQLite embedded database that comes with Android.
Chapter 10 : 3D Graphics – using the Android implementation of OpenGL.
Section IV : The Next Generation
————————————
Chapter 11 : Multi-touch – how to
Chapter 12 : There’s no place like home – creating widgets / live wall-paper
Chapter 13 : Write once, Test Everywhere – advice and tips on debugging / testing when faced with a large array of devices already in the wild.
Chapter 14 : Publishing to the Market – a basic overview of getting your application to those fee-paying mobile junkies.
My one gripe with this book is in Section II – you’re in the mix…building Sudoku and it’s done in a nice, incremental manner: you write a little code, compile it up and see it run. Gradually the game comes together and you get a sense of satisfaction from watching it do just that. Then, at a certain point, you’ll find yourself writing code that uses functions you’ve not written yet….suddenly…POW…your code doesn’t compile and you can’t see the results of your new code. Obviously you dive forward, find the functions, implement them and hey presto, it compiles again. It’s not a terminal thing; just out of the blue and a little frustrating.
Overall – I thought this was a really good book for someone a) who knows a bit of Java b) doesn’t know Android at all. You could probably figure it all out from the online docs – but I bet you it will take a lot longer and won’t be half as pleasant an experience! I’d recommend it to anyone starting out with Android.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Not what I was looking for,
Had a hard time choosing between 2 or 3 stars, but in the end “i don’t like it” is closer to the true than “it’s ok”.
As a starting guide to Android I was looking for detailed on the basics of Android such as Activities, Intents, Services, etc.. The information is there but it’s so sparse that it becomes quite hard to understand some things.
The authors try to squeeze as many info as they can (they cover A LOT of ground) at the cost of leaving some things barely explained.
e.g. It might be useful to add music to an application, but its something you can learn later with examples from the community, on the other hand, the usage of Intents to send/receive data from Activities is barely explained. The same goes to the use of Services.
3D graphics are also fun, but a chapter about Bluetooth would be a lot more useful…
The book is aimed at the “general purpose” multimedia application, in my case i’m more interested in data storing and processing so in the end “i don’t like it”
Was this review helpful to you?
|Very good (albeit) little book,
This book is great. What I like about it is that it isn’t hard to understand and covers all the bases, It’s not just a guide to one app (although the Sudoku game you make throughout the book is really worth going through) and goes through a small example for each area of development you could possibly need on the platform (working with databases or the internet it covers it all). Although this book is surprisingly (to me) thin (about the diameter of a 5p piece) it makes a nice concise guide to everything and is a perfect starting point for all your applications. Rather than just telling you how to do everything it explains basic applications thoroughly enough for you to flick to another part of the book or follow online advise and apply it safe in the knowledge that you know what you’re doing. It really covers all the stuff you want to know and also the stuff you might not have thought about such as how to actually set up your development environment, developing for different phone models and releasing you application. Having said all that as i’ve mentioned before it really is a back to the basics approach, great for someone entirely new to the platform but i’m not sure that anyone more advanced would gain much from it that they couldn’t already find in the google docs (which cover everything by the way, but if your looking at this book you probably already know that they can be a bit overwhelming to a newb)
I always find it helpful to know a bit about the background of a person reviewing a book like this, so: I’m an a-level computing student who already new VERY BASIC java/prgramming concepts. I think if you know the basics about declaring and using variables, the difference between methods and a bit about classes and how they work (me) then you should be allright with this book. As i am for the most part although i do wish i’d gone into it with a bit more experience passing data around, a big aspect of writing any application that i’m still not really sure about. If you aren’t familar with , the very basics of, java or a similiar language then you will probably find this book to advanced and i suggest you do some basic hello world type tutorials online first until you’re at about my level. When it comes to XML, turns out you don’t even need to understand it to use it :p. so don’t let having no clue about XML put you off it really is easy.
One last thing, thought i’d mention the support forum specifically for this book: It’s pretty good! not many people around who actually have the expertise to help you and it can seem very slow. BUT the actual author of this book frequents it every other day (give or take) and is very helpful and full of patience and teaching and all the good stuff.
If i had to fault the writing of this book the one think that’s a little frustrating is, as someone’s already said, when you’re following an example and your writing stuff for methods you won’t actually create for another 5 pages (so don’t freak out if your covered in squiggly red lines until you reach the end of the section). But on reflection I suppose this approach is better than him saying “now go back and add this little line of code in between these lines of code..”
All in all, this isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of android development books, but it’s definitely the best out there at the time of writing (i really did my research), particularly if your fairly new to programming and certainly android. And i would recommend it!
Was this review helpful to you?
|