Learning Android Application Programming

Learning Android 

Application Programming

A new book on programming Android applications

Table of Contents

http://www.androiddevbook.com/book.html

1. An Introduction to Android Development

• Understanding the Android Difference
• Building Native Applications
• Understanding the History of Android
• Using the Android User Interface
• Understanding Android Applications
• Introducing Google Play

2. Kicking the Tires: Setting Up Your Development Environment

• Installing the Java JDK and JRE on Windows◦ Understanding Java Versions◦ Installing the Eclipse IDE on Windows◦ Installing Eclipse◦ Configuring the Java JRE in Eclipse◦ Getting Familiar with Eclipse◦ Installing the Android SDK on Windows◦ Installing the Android Developer Tools Plug-in on Windows◦ Installing and Using Java on a Mac◦ Downloading and Installing the JDK on a Mac◦ Downloading and Installing the Eclipse IDE on a Mac◦ Downloading and Installing the Android SDK on a Mac◦ Installing the Android Developer Tools Plug-in on a Mac

3. Putting On the Training Wheels: Creating Your First Android Application

• Creating an Android Application◦ Running Your Android Project◦ Creating an Android Virtual Device◦ Running an Application on the AVD◦ Best Practices for Using an Android Virtual Device◦ Installing an Android Application on an Actual Device◦ Working with Lint in an Android Project◦ Understanding the Android Project Files◦ Understanding the Layout XML Files◦ Understanding the Resource XML File◦ Using IDs in XML Files and Their Effect on Generated Files◦ Understanding the Activity File◦ Understanding the Activity Lifecycle◦ Getting Access to the TextView Within the Activity◦ Using Logging in Your Application◦ Understanding the Android Manifest File

4. Going for Your First Ride: Creating an Android User Interface

• Refactoring Your Code◦ Implementing Strict Mode◦ Creating a Simple User Interface◦ Using Linear Layouts◦ Creating Button Event Handlers◦ Updating the Timer Display◦ Displaying a Running Timer◦ Understanding the Activity Lifecycle◦ Exploring the Android Activity Lifecycle◦ Fixing Activity Lifecycle Issues◦ Making an Android Device Vibrate◦ Saving User Preferences
• Creating a New Activity◦ Showing a New Activity◦ Saving an Application’s State◦ Using Shared Preferences

5. Customizing Your Bike: Improving Android Application Usability

• Refactoring Your Code◦ Improving the Setting Activity◦ Showing Toast Pop-Ups◦ Returning from the Settings Activity with a Back Button◦ Action Bars and Menus◦ Creating a Menu◦ Creating an Action Bar◦ Going Home◦ Using Notifications◦ Creating a Notification◦ Showing or Replacing a New Notification◦ Showing Notifications at Regular Intervals◦ Creating a Database
• Creating a Data Model◦ Creating a Database and Its Tables◦ Checking Table Creation◦ Creating Relationships Between Tables
• Creating a Routes ListView

6. Pimping Your Bike: Styling an Android Application

• Refactoring Your Application◦ Understanding Screen Differences◦ Understanding Screen Sizes and Densities◦ Knowing the Devices Out There◦ Making Your Application Resolution Independent◦ Using Configuration Qualifiers◦ Creating Launcher Icons◦ Creating Notification Icons◦ Making Apps Look Good on Different Screen Sizes◦ Using Resource Dimensions◦ Changing Text Size in Java◦ Changing the Layout for Landscape Mode◦ Changing the Layout for Tablets◦ Creating a Side-by-Side View◦ Using Styles and Themes◦ Enabling Night Mode◦ Changing Themes◦ Detecting Light Levels◦ Dealing with Erratic Sensor Values

7. Are We There Yet? Making Your Application Location Aware

• Refactoring Your Code◦ Finding the Device’s Location◦ Testing GPS in a Virtual Device◦ How Accurate Is the GPS Location?◦ Improving the User Experience When Using GPS Location◦ Displaying Google Maps◦ Dealing with Inaccurate Location Data◦ Storing GPS Data◦ Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Data◦ Updating the Model◦ Using the Database in Your Application◦ Displaying GPS Data◦ Working with List Activities◦ Displaying GPS Data in Google Maps

8. Inviting Friends for a Ride: Social Network Integration

• Refactoring Your Code◦ Integrating Photos into an Android Application◦ Taking a Photograph◦ Checking Whether You Can Take a Photograph◦ Displaying a Photograph in Your Application◦ Getting Results from Activities
• Sharing Content with Friends
• Displaying a Chooser◦ Sharing Text and Photos

9. Tuning Your Bike: Optimizing Performance, Memory, and Power

• Refactoring Your Code◦ Running Your Application as a Service◦ Handling Orientation Changes◦ Creating a Service◦ Improving Battery Life◦ Determining Power Usage◦ Reacting to Power Levels◦ Checking the Battery Regularly◦ Speeding Up Databases◦ Speeding Up Databases with Indexes◦ Speeding Up Databases with Asynchronous Tasks

10. Taking Off the Training Wheels: Testing Your Application

• Testing with JUnit◦ Creating a New Test Application◦ Increasing Test Coverage◦ Speeding Up Your Tests◦ Making Testing Easier by Refactoring◦ Testing with Android JUnit Extensions◦ Testing Android Activities◦ Creating a Mock Application◦ Testing an Activity Lifecycle◦ Testing an Activity Further◦ Testing by Interacting with the UI◦ Testing Services◦ Using Monkey Testing◦ Running Tests Automatically◦ Running Tests from the Command Line◦ Installing Jenkins◦ Using Version Control with Git◦ Overview of Git Bash Commands◦ Using Jenkins◦ Testing on a Wide Range of Devices

11. Touring France: Optimizing for Various Devices and Countries

• Refactoring Your Code◦ Going International◦ Supporting Various Languages◦ Starting with a Rough Machine Translation◦ Improving the Translation with Help from Users◦ Adding More Languages◦ Accommodating Various Dialects◦ Adding Language Region Codes◦ Dealing with Word Variations: Route, Path, Trail, and Track◦ Handling Various Language Formats◦ Supporting Right-to-Left layouts◦ Dealing with Variations in Dates, Numbers, and Currencies◦ Enabling Backward Compatibility◦ Using the Android Support Library◦ Android Version Checking◦ Building for Various Screen Sizes◦ Using Fragments

12. Selling Your Bike: Using Google Play and the Amazon Appstore

• Building Your Media Strategy◦ Using Google Play◦ Implementing Google Licensing◦ Employing Advertising in Your Application◦ Using the Amazon Appstore