Learning Android Application Programming

James Talbot has been with Adobe for more than a decade, on both the sales engineering and training teams, and has many years of experience working with web applications. He is currently working on constructing exciting web, mobile web, and Android applications built on top of a Java Content Repository based on open source standards. He cowrote Object-Oriented Programming with ActionScript 2.0 (New Riders Press, 2004) and Adobe Flex 3: Training from the Source (Adobe Press, 2008). He has also recorded training videos for Lynda.com and Total Training as well as spent extensive time teaching in the classroom. He has extensive knowledge of all Adobe web products and has spoken at numerous conferences. Justin Mclean has been writing code since the early days of the web. For fifteen years he has managed his own consulting company, Class Software, and during that time he has worked on hundreds of browser, desktop, and mobile applications. He has seen significant changes of technology in the industry, surviving the browser wars and the dot-com bubble. He is an Apache Flex committer, board member and release manager; an Adobe Community Professional; teaches training courses; and has spoken at numerous conferences all over the world. In his spare time he tinkers about with open source electronics.

Preface xix
Acknowledgments xxi
About the Authors xxiii



 

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Android Development 1
Understanding the Android Difference 2
Building Native Applications 2
Understanding the History of Android 3
Using the Android User Interface 8
Understanding Android Applications 10
Introducing Google Play 10
Summary 12

 

Chapter 2: Kicking the Tires: Setting Up Your Development Environment 13
Installing the Java JDK and JRE on Windows 14
Installing the Eclipse IDE on Windows 16
Installing the Android SDK on Windows 19
Installing and Using Java on a Mac 24
Summary 27

 

Chapter 3: Putting On the Training Wheels: Creating Your First Android Application 29
Creating an Android Application 29
Running Your Android Project 32
Working with Lint in an Android Project 37
Understanding the Android Project Files 37
Summary 50

 

Chapter 4: Going for Your First Ride: Creating an Android User Interface 51
Refactoring Your Code 51
Implementing Strict Mode 54
Creating a Simple User Interface 55
Understanding the Activity Lifecycle 68
Making an Android Device Vibrate 72
Saving User Preferences 74
Summary 80

 

Chapter 5: Customizing Your Bike: Improving Android Application Usability 81
Refactoring Your Code 82
Improving the Setting Activity 88
Action Bars and Menus 94
Using Notifications 101
Creating a Database 107
Summary 122

 

Chapter 6: Pimping Your Bike: Styling an Android Application 125
Refactoring Your Application 126
Understanding Screen Differences 126
Making Your Application Resolution Independent 129
Using Configuration Qualifiers 132
Using Styles and Themes 149
Summary 162

 

Chapter 7: Are We There Yet? Making Your Application Location Aware 165
Refactoring Your Code 165
Finding the Device’s Location 169
Dealing with Inaccurate Location Data 190
Storing GPS Data 196
Displaying GPS Data 209
Summary 220

 

Chapter 8: Inviting Friends for a Ride: Social Network Integration 223
Refactoring Your Code 223
Integrating Photos into an Android Application 224
Sharing Content with Friends 242
Summary 248

 

Chapter 9: Tuning Your Bike: Optimizing Performance, Memory, and Power 249
Refactoring Your Code 249
Running Your Application as a Service 250
Improving Battery Life 267
Speeding Up Databases 278
Summary 284

 

Chapter 10: Taking Off the Training Wheels: Testing Your Application 285
Refactoring Your Code 285
Testing with JUnit 286
Testing with Android JUnit Extensions 299
Testing Services 310
Using Monkey Testing 313
Running Tests Automatically 316
Testing on a Wide Range of Devices 323
Summary 325

 

Chapter 11: Touring France: Optimizing for Various Devices and Countries 327
Refactoring Your Code 327
Going International 329
Accommodating Various Dialects 342
Handling Various Language Formats 344
Enabling Backward Compatibility 348
Building for Various Screen Sizes 352
Using Fragments 355
Summary 361

 

Chapter 12: Selling Your Bike: Using Google Play and the Amazon Appstore 363
Building Your Media Strategy 363
Employing Advertising in Your Application 369
Using the Amazon Appstore 373
Summary 376

 

Index 377