Monday, April 9, 2012


Android Development for Beginners

Do you need to upgrade your skills as a programmer? Do you want to learn something new and improve your expertise? Whether you’re just starting your career as an Android developer or you want to level up your Android development expertise, this blog post will serve as an Android tutorial for those of you who are interested to learn Android.

We will cover the basics of Android development and slightly tackle intermediate and advanced topics. Are you ready?

Basic Skills Needed for Android Development

Before you can perform any Android app development, you need to be familiar with 2 specific skills: Java and Android.

Java is the programming language used in Android development. On the other hand, learning Android requires learning XML which will be handy for app design, familiarity of  Android concepts, and applying these concepts programmatically with Java. XML is relatively easy to get acquainted with. In fact, you can learn XML as you go along programming your app.

As for Java, there are no shortcuts in learning the language. You need to really spend time studying it, familiarizing yourself with Java concepts, and practicing how to code using the language. There are a lot of resources online, like ebooks, courses as well as YouTube tutorial videos in order to learn Java quickly. For starters, it’s important to learn and install Eclipse (the Integrated Development Environment, or IDE, for Java), as well as the Java Development Kit (JDK). Make sure that you also cover the basic syntax in Java, such as loops and if statements.

After learning Java and XML, you will need to understand how to content them using Android principles.

Where to Find Android Tutorials and Resources

There are a lot of resources available online if you want to learn Android development, including books and YouTube videos. You can also sign up on an online course to help you get started. This website http://moorandroid.blogspot.com, for example, is dedicted to provide comprehensive Android tutorials and guides.

Moreover, if you plan to to become a certified Android developer, you can also enroll for Android Developer Nanodegree Program from Udacity.com, in collaboration with Google. Being a certified Android developer will bring your development skills to a higher level and will be good for your software development career.

Finally, make sure you are updated with recent news and trends about Android development on Google. Google’s official training guide provides both basic and advanced stuff, including a lot of code samples which can help you with your Android app development career.


Integrated Development Environments

An Integrated Development Environment or IDE is a software suite composed of several tools to help write, execute, and test software.

In a complete software development phase, developers use a number of tools to create code, build a software or an app, and test the product. These include text editors, libraries, compilers, as testing platforms. Without the use of an IDE, a developer will have to identify,  deploy, integrate, and manage different tools separately. An IDE, on the other hand, combines these tools together in a single framework, application, or service. This simplifies software development, minimizes coding mistakes, and makes programming a lot faster and easier.

For Android development, you may have to use an IDE in the beginning to help you build your first Android app. You can choose between Android Studio and Eclipse. For many years now, Eclipse has been the preferred IDE of many Android developers. However, Google came up with its own IDE called Android Studio that established strong competition between the two.

Android Studio is more advanced and has more features than Eclipse. For example, it enables importing of library resources directly from Maven Central. It also uses modules that some developers find easier and more comfortable. Finally, it offers better all-round support to Android developers.

If you have yet to develop your first Android app, the Android Studio is recommended for you as your IDE. However, if you are in the middle of an app development and you’re using Eclipse, it’s still best to finish it using Eclipse, before you try the AS.

Other Important Things You Need to Know about Android Development

So, we have established the basic steps in creating your first Android app:

1. Learn Java.
2. Familiarize yourself with Android development concepts, and learn how to use these concepts pragmatically with Java.
3. Choose an IDE that you can work with. If you’re a beginner, Android Studio is more ideal.

The next step is to conceptualize a good app idea and then build it using the knowledge you’ve learned. However, know that building your first app will not happen overnight. It can be time consuming, and may take weeks or months before your successfully execute it without errors or bugs. If you are serious about developing an Android app, be ready to solve a range of problems, from minor bugs to big, complicated issues.

You have to understand that Android development is not a for developers who are looking for fast results. It requires time, patience, and resourcefulness.

In case you get stuck on a problem, which inevitably will happen, there are a lot of resources you can turn to. There’s Stack Overflow, YouTube videos, and even this blog that serves as Android tutorial. Plus, the huge community of Android developers will definitely be a help you in building your career in Android development.

Good luck!

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