Android for Programmers

AlertDialogs, Inflating XML Layouts and the Manifest File 5.1 Introduction 118 5.2 Test-Driving the Favorite Twitter Searches App 119 5.3 Technologies Overview 121 5.4 Building the App's GUI and Resource Files 123 5.5 Building the App 131 5.6 AndroidManifest.xml 142 5.7 Wrap-Up 143 Chapter 6: Flag Quiz Game App 146 Assets, AssetManager, Tweened Animations, Handler, Menus and Logging Error Messages 6.1 Introduction 147 6.2 Test-Driving the Flag Quiz Game App 151 6.3 Technologies Overview 151 6.4 Building the App's GUI and Resource Files 153 6.5 Building the App 160 6.6 AndroidManifest.xml 174 6.7 Wrap-Up 175 Chapter 7: Cannon Game App 176 Listening for Touches and Gestures, Manual Frame-By-Frame Animation, Graphics, Sound, Threading, SurfaceView and SurfaceHolder 7.1 Introduction 177 7.2 Test-Driving the Cannon Game App 178 7.3 Technologies Overview 179 7.4 Building the App's GUI and Resource Files 181 7.5 Building the App 183 7.6 Wrap-Up 203 Chapter 8: SpotOn Game App 204 Property Animation, ViewPropertyAnimator, AnimatorListener, Thread-Safe Collections, Default SharedPreferences for an Activity 8.1 Introduction 205 8.2 Test-Driving the SpotOn Game App 206 8.3 Technologies Overview 207 8.4 Building the App's GUI and Resource Files 208 8.5 Building the App 210 8.6 Wrap-Up 224 Chapter 9: Doodlz App 225 Two-Dimensional Graphics, SensorManager, Multitouch Events and Toasts 9.1 Introduction 226 9.2 Test-Driving the Doodlz App 227 9.3 Technologies Overview 228 9.4 Building the App's GUI and Resource Files 229 9.5 Building the App 234 9.6 Wrap-Up 256 Chapter 10: Address Book App 258 ListActivity, AdapterViews, Adapters, Multiple Activities, SQLite, GUI Styles, Menu Resources and MenuInflater 10.1 Introduction 259 10.2 Test-Driving the Address Book App 261 10.3 Technologies Overview 262 10.4 Building the GUI and Resource Files 263 10.5 Building the App 269 10.6Wrap-Up 290 Chapter 11: Route Tracker App 291 Google Maps API, GPS, LocationManager, MapActivity, MapView and Overlay 11.1 Introduction 292 11.2 Test-Driving the Route Tracker App 294 11.3 Technologies Overview 296 11.4 Building the GUI and Resource Files 298 11.5 Building the App 300 11.6 Wrap-Up 318 Chapter 12: Slideshow App 319 Gallery and Media Library Access, Built-In Content Providers, MediaPlayer, Image Transitions, Custom ListActivity Layouts and the View-Holder Pattern 12.1 Introduction 320 12.2 Test-Driving the Slideshow App 323 12.3 Technologies Overview 324 12.4 Building the GUI and Resource Files 327 12.5 Building the App 331 12.6 Wrap-Up 358 Chapter 13: Enhanced Slideshow App 360 Serializing Data, Taking Pictures with the Camera and Playing Video in a VideoView 13.1 Introduction 361 13.2 Test-Driving the Enhanced Slideshow App 362 13.3 Technologies Overview 363 13.4 Building the GUI and Resource Files 364 13.5 Building the App 367 13.6 Wrap-Up 389 Chapter 14: Weather Viewer App 390 Web Services, JSON, Fragment, ListFragment, DialogFragment, ActionBar, Tabbed Navigation, App Widgets, Broadcast Intents and BroadcastReceivers 14.1 Introduction 391 14.2 Test-Driving the Weather App 393 14.3 Technologies Overview 394 14.4 Building the App's GUI and Resource Files 396 14.5 Building the App 399 14.6 Wrap-Up 459 Index 460 Chapters on the Web Go to the book's registration page to register and download these chapters. Chapter 15: PHAB's Pizza App Text-to-Speech, Speech-to-Text and Telephony Chapter 16: Voice Recorder App Audio Recording and Playback Chapter 17: Enhanced Address Book App Bluetooth Chapter 18: 3D Art App OpenGL ES 3D Rendering Chapter 19: HTML5 Favorite Twitter(R) Searches App Bonus Chapter: HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript for Experienced Web Developers

write an app in every chapter, explaining each aspect of the SDK as it,s encountered. Some apps are built from scratch; others expand on the apps in previous chapters, iterating on the code to implement new functionality. The full source code is available, so you can see how the SDK is really used. Teaches you all the Android essentials from layouts to sensors and even on to features added in Honeycomb such as property animation, tabbed navigation with the ActionBar, fragments and web services with JsonReader. Whether you,ve never touched Android or you have some apps under your belt already, this book is definitely worth picking up." -Ian G. Clifton, Independent Contractor and Android App Developer "With the increasing scope of Android, getting up to speed can be a challenge. This book addresses a compelling set of topics, presenting them in self-contained packages that are fun and instructive. The coverage of key Android 3 features such as fragments, resizable App Widgets and the Action Bar is interesting. For tablet-oriented app development, familiarity with these tools is essential. Creates UI/layouts with a depth of detail I,ve not seen elsewhere." -Sebastian Nykopp, Chief Architect, Reaktor "The Welcome app looks solid; great to see the integration of the new layout editor. The Tip Calculator app is a pretty cool example and definitely a useful app; I love the deeper coverage of the lifecycle. The Favorite Twitter Searches app is a good way to demonstrate ScrollView. The Flag Quiz app is one of my favorites, covering delayed events, View animations and string arrays; I like the use of the AssetManager for the flags. The XML declaration and explanation of the tweened flag-shake animation is nicely done. The SpotOn Game app is one of my favorites; it does an excellent job in covering the new Honeycomb+ property animations, and uses them in a creative way to build a surprisingly fun little game. Nice job of keeping the database queries out of the UI thread in the Address Book app. It,s great how the Route Tracker app chapter puts so much useful MapView information in one place. Slideshow is a beautiful app." -Dan Galpin, Android Advocate and author of Intro to Android Application Development "The Welcome app does a great job illustrating the Visual Layout Editor; I liked the approach of building visual components without code; this makes it easy to experiment with other properties to customize the look of the app. There,s a lot of time spent on the Tip Calculator app UI in the Visual Layout Editor-the line-by-line explanations of the code are extremely valuable; this is a solid introduction to how Android works. Favorite Twitter Searches taught me things I didn,t know. The Flag Quiz app is a great chapter; clearly written, and I particularly appreciated the completeness of the code comments. The Cannon Game app is a nice introduction to animation. The SpotOn Game app did a great job introducing Android 3+; in a lot of ways, Google has separated Android 2.x and 3.x by intended use (i.e. phone vs. tablet); this chapter introduces some of those concepts and helps the software developer understand some of the SDK differences. The Doodlz app chapter uses great examples to illustrate the concepts. The Address Book app is a good introduction to SQLite databases. The introduction to the camera in the Enhanced Slideshow app chapter is valuable information." -Eric J. Bowden, COO, Safe Driving Systems, LLC "The Intro chapter gives a solid overview of Android. The Welcome app chapter is a nice intro to layouts, keeping it simple, while still using a common layout (RelativeLayout) and explaining the resulting XML. Favorite Twitter Searches app is a great chapter that introduces a lot of new (core) concepts. The app descriptions give a clear understanding of what is being built and the technologies overviews are particularly nice; the colored highlighting is helpful. The SpotOn Game app is a great intro to 3.x animation and produces a fun game without a lot of code. Doodlz is a great app-anyone can identify with it and it gives readers a chance to learn about Android. The Address Book app is a good intro to some key aspects of Android programs (in particular, launching other Activities and utilizing a SQLite database). The Route Tracker app chapter is excellent." -Ian G. Clifton, Independent Contractor and Android App Developer "One of the most comprehensive intro chapters I have read, especially the number and variety of links to outside sources. I like the Welcome app as a way to get the reader,s feet wet; it breaks them into Eclipse and it gets them making something without Java code. TheTip Calculator app UI highlights the tricky cases of TableLayout and TableRow. The Favorite Twitter Searches app does a good job of introducing important UI skills, especially using the LayoutInflater and the ScrollView to programmatically add UI elements. The Flag Quiz app chapter does a good job of showing a variety of tools, such as collections, DialogBuilder options and animations; the method used to handle all the data is a good one. Those property animators sure make the SpotOn Game app code straightforward; well done. The Route Tracker is a solid example of a location and map app. The Slideshow app reinforces list handling and adapters. I like the intro to serialization in the Enhanced Slideshow app." -Douglas Jones, Senior Software Engineer, Fullpower Technologies "Good intro to overall Android, Java and OO concepts." -Ronan "Zero" Schwarz (CIO, OpenIntents) "A good intro to Android platform capabilities and online resources for getting into Android development; a valuable timesaver, particularly with the increasing amount of available Android information; the walkthrough for getting an app running in the emulator is easy to follow. The Flag Quiz app chapter is easy to follow and quite enjoyable; clear description of key UI elements; good that the distinction between assets/ and res/ is presented; nice that View animation is included in an example relevant to the app (adds a professional touch); the yellow code highlighting works well. The Address Book app chapter is a good introduction to CRUD [create, read, update and delete] apps. The Route Tracker app chapter is an easy introduction to location tracking. The Enhanced Slideshow app is a straightforward demonstration on how to use the camera and display video in an application." -Sebastian Nykopp, Chief Architect, Reaktor