Comments about oreilly Android Cookbook:

I use the book whenever I am stuck with a real world problem when programming Android. Most often the solution is there, explained methodically, and liberally spattered with real world example code.

It makes for a good read for all, starting from the hobbyist Android coder to the seasoned professional.

Comments about oreilly Android Cookbook:

Hello, I am Ozgur Cakmak and I will be reviewing Android Cookbook. I got this book via O'Reilly's Blogger review program. I am a Java/C sharp developer who recently built an android application for the place I am working for, so this review will come from a person who endured many trials and tribulations of the Android development world.
Before starting let me tell you what I expect from a cookbook, so you may have a clearer picture: I expect it to save my time. Nobody, maybe except for a few person, can know a framework's all internal workings like back of his hand encountering problems is a must. And instead of spending hours in front of Google or Stack Overflow I'd like to find an answer to my problem after I clearly define it into a question.
As a short review,whether I recommend this book or not. Yes, yes I would. I wish I had read this book, had this book, in my library a month ago. Not only it would speed up my development, it would save me making coding horrors and create a more sensible code base.
Right on, let's get this show on the road then...
Chapter 1 offers the basics of Android application development. It starts with a very basic hello world example, done both in console and in eclipse (which seems counterintuitive at first, "why should I need a hello world in a cookbook?", then again if you are going to make a presentation or a talk on Android you will need this. Then it guides you to set up the android development environment. From eclipse setup to getting Android SDK they are all given step by step. Then, what I personally dislike in other android books, it continues on to show how to use SDK examples and provides two example applications, which are a countdown timer and a tip calculating application, which are more complex and usable than Hello world. They help. Because at the very worst you will mostly use the components provided in these examples. You will get data from the user via EditText (think of it like the TextBox component in the .net world), interact with her via buttons, provide data in tables, radio buttons, textviews...
Let's head into the chapter 2. After getting your intro in the first chapter the book goes in the detail of how to design your application.
I feel until you pass the Exception Handling, the cookbook doesn't start. Then, with the recipe "Keeping data when the user rotates the device" you creep into the territory of questions. You have two options if you had this kind of problem, either you can limit the rotation - which how I was handling it before reading the cookbook - or you can save those information and reuse it after the screen rotates. You see, the android is not like you - for the operating system, the vertical screen and the horizontal one are two separate, different views. So it destroys the vertical one to make room for the horizontal view and vice versa.
The recipes are wisely selected. Because as I did, you will hit nearly every of them listed here. Maybe except providing a splash screen, or google analytics usage but keeping track on battery level, application first run preferences, saving the data, handling input from key listeners and how to design a conference app are crucial if you are an android developer. The last one, the recipe on conference app, is a request that will be wanted from you. Maybe not now, not tomorrow but that request will come. Except for a few recipes I've told, this chapter is all golden in its value.
I'd have to admit, the first part of this book can be used as the core of a tutorial aimed to create Android coders from java juniors and veterans alike. The other chapters go into detail in very diverse topics, they may be diverse but they are items you will encounter in your life as an Android developer. Maps, handling exceptions, creating a conference app. and others. Because I have to keep this brief I had truncated many details regarding the chapters but, they are good; they have been wisely selected (because the questions I asked in my app development were there! Just there!) and the answers are not beating the bush - they are direct, full of code and explanations.
So in short, this book is one of the essential books that has to reside in your library. Although I am a webcast-learning guy I have grokked many important info that should be in my knowledge base prior to building the app.
Thanks.