[Android Tutorial] 2. Getting stuff started

A story about Mike

I want to introduce you to Mike. Mike is a 40 years old, married man. He's working as a software developer in a company called WhyYouNoWork Inc. (WYNW). His daily work includes java development but Mike isn't comfortable in his company. A short time ago Mike got an idea of an android app to earn a lot of money. To ensure you get to know him take a look at this picture of him:

The problem is Mike does not have any idea what how android is working and how he could getting started with coding. Mike asks, like every developer, google.

History of Android

1.0 - SDK Release 12. November 2007
1.5 - Input without hardware keyboard
1.6 - Supports multiple resolutions
2.0 - Better account management
2.2 - Backup functions
2.3 - Voice over IP
3.0 - Actionbar
4.0 - Optimizations for smartphones and tablets
4.1 - Performance optimization
4.2 - Miracast support

Mike got that but he's bored and wants to know something more useful. He keeps on searching and finds the following graphic about the architecture of android.

Architecture of Android

Mike wonders what the application framework is used for. He finds the following facts to get a short overview:

The application framework:

• Simplifies the access to the device hardware
• e.g. camera, network, sensors
• Views
• views are the basics of android UIs (We are going to look at this later this tutorial)
• Content Provider
• rights management of applications
• Resource Manager
• access to graphics and layoutfiles
• Notification Manager
• access to the statusbar
• Activity Manager
• controls the lifecycle of applications

What we are going to do next

Finally Mike got that and writes it, like every good programmer, down for later studying. But now he wants to start coding. First of all he will set up his system.

[Android Tutorial] 1. Introduction

Hey there,
due to a workshop i gave in my company i thought i also introduce you to android development. This will be a most practical workshop but some theory is necessary to get your things done. To give this tutorial an overall relaxed apperance i will wrap it with a tiny neat story.

What are we going to do?

First of all you will get a theoretical introduction about the most important things in the world of our tiny little green helper. Afterwards i will explain how to set up you computer so you can develop apps by yourself. If you got that far we will start doing a lot of exercises. Starting with a simple hello world we will make our way to do an organizer app which saves lists of data.

Why should i learn android?

• Very similiar to java programming
• If you already developed in java you will have a good time
• Google loves every developer
• compared to iOS where you need to pay to be able to develop
• Uploading apps to the Play Store is really easy

What do i need to know to follow this tutorial?

You need to be familiar with Java. I will use a little bit of inheritance and maybe some generics aswell.

Let's get started. If you don't understand something or something is unclear just use the comments or email me to info@loris-bachert.de.

Have fun :)

Links to the parts:

• 2. Getting stuff started (If you don't like to hear the theory you can skip this part)
• 3. Setting up your system