Android devices are stealing market share from the iPhone with dramatic speed, and you have a killer app idea. Where to begin? Head First Android Development will help you get your first application up and running in no time with the Android SDK and Eclipse plug-in. You'll learn how to design for devices with a variety of different screen sizes and resolutions, along with mastering core programming and design principles that will make your app stand out.
Whether you're a seasoned iPhone developer who wants to jump into the the Android Market, or someone with previous programming skills but no mobile apps in your resume, this book offers a complete learning experience for creating eye-catching, top-selling Android applications.
You'll learn how to:
Install the Android SDK and Eclipse plug-in and get started building apps
Add buttons, edit text fields, and build your own navigation options in the Android menu
Customize the look of your app with theming and adding image resources
Use Android's content provider mechanism to add images and contact information to an app, and establish permissions for their use
Work with the Android devices' camera, GPS, and accelerometer
Experiment with different Android emulator configurations to simulate different devices with a variety of screen sizes
Optimize, test, and distribute your application in the Android Market
We think your time is too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First Android Development uses a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep.
Jonathan Simon is a developer and interaction designer who loves to make great apps for people to use—and loves to help other people make them, too. He’s worked on a dizzying array of platforms and customers, from trading systems built in Java/Swing for JPMorganChase and Merrill Lynch, to collaborative websites built in Ruby on Rails, and now, mobile. Jonathan is a longtime veteran of the mobile space, developing J2ME mobile apps all the way back when the Motorola RAZR was the phone everyone had to have. Since then, he’s developed mobile apps for Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry. Jonathan is currently a senior engineer at AllTrails, a Yelp for the outdoors.
Comments about O'Reilly Media Head First Android Development:
Everyone get their money back.
This is a black eye for the head first series and for O'reilly early releases.
5/14/2012
1.0
Yet another delay
By Alan
from UK
About Me Developer
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about O'Reilly Media Head First Android Development:
I'd love to review it, but it keeps getting delayed. Was meant to be published in March, then it was May, then it was July, and now it's November !!!
5/13/2012
3.0
Worth the money after official release
By Andy
from New York, NY
About Me Developer
Pros
Helpful examples
Well explained
Cons
Not comprehensive enough
Too many errors
Best Uses
Expert
Intermediate
Comments about O'Reilly Media Head First Android Development:
I was able to get my hands on a pre-release version of the book, and the first thing you notice after 1 chapter, a hell of a lot of typos. The second thing you notice, a hell of a lot of coding errors. Now, I may have gotten ahead of myself in saying that the first thing you notice are errors, because the first thing you first realize is wow, this book is good. But after the second chapter, things go downhill. Its still an extremely well explained book, better than any others I have read relating to Android, but the coding errors make this book so bad. When I say coding errors, I mean missing arguments, not working code examples, previous chapter code different in the other chapter, etc. This makes it extremely annoying because if the previous code does not follow the next chapter which it needs to build off of, how can one learn when it cannot work! Worst of all, as well explained as the examples are, the small things are not explained well at all. In fact, overall, the small stuff that matter, that helps someone experienced in programming java fix those errors, is too confusing. I honestly tried fixing errors, and I got most of it. But the sporadic information makes it near impossible unless you already know android development; in which case, why are you reading it? All in all, its a good intro book, and its a good start, but I do not recommend the money for it until all these issues are resolved, because Head First's books are great and I would hate for this one not to be!