Android Wireless Application Development has earned a reputation as the most useful real-world guide to building robust, commercial-grade Android apps. Now, authors Lauren Darcey and Shane Conder have systematically revised and updated this guide for the latest Android SDK 4.0. To accommodate their extensive new coverage, they've split the book into two volumes. Volume I focuses on Android essentials, including setting up your development environment, understanding the application lifecycle, designing effective user interfaces, developing for diverse devices, and optimizing your mobile app development process--from design through publishing. Every chapter has been thoroughly updated for the newest APIs, tools, utilities, and hardware. All sample code has been overhauled and tested on leading devices from multiple companies, and many new examples have been added. Drawing on decades of in-the-trenches experience as professional mobile developers, Darcey and Conder provide valuable new best practices--including powerful techniques for constructing more portable apps. This new edition contains full chapters on Android manifest files, content providers, effective app design, and testing; an all-new chapter on tackling compatibility issues; coverage of today's most valuable new Android tools and utilities; and even more exclusive tips and tricks. An indispensable resource for every Android development team member.
Autorentext
Lauren Darcey is responsible for the technical leadership and direction of a small software company specializing in mobile technologies, including Android, iOS, Blackberry, Palm Pre, BREW, and J2ME and consulting services. With more than two decades of experience in professional software production, Lauren is a recognized authority in application architecture and the development of commercial-grade mobile applications. Lauren received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
She spends her copious free time traveling the world with her geeky mobile-minded husband and is an avid nature photographer. Her work has been published in books and newspapers around the world. In South Africa, she dove with 4-meter-long great white sharks and got stuck between a herd of rampaging hippopotami and an irritated bull elephant. She's been attacked by monkeys in Japan, gotten stuck in a ravine with two hungry lions in Kenya, gotten thirsty in Egypt, narrowly avoided a coup d'etat in Thailand, geocached her way through the Swiss Alps, drank her way through the beer halls of Germany, slept in the crumbling castles of Europe, and gotten her tongue stuck to an iceberg in Iceland (while being watched by a herd of suspicious wild reindeer).
Shane Conder has extensive development experience and has focused his attention on mobile and embedded development for the past decade. He has designed and developed many commercial applications for Android, iOS, BREW, Blackberry, J2ME, Palm, and Windows Mobile--some of which have been installed on millions of phones worldwide. Shane has written extensively about the mobile industry and evaluated mobile development platforms on his tech blogs and is well-known within the blogosphere. Shane received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California.
A self-admitted gadget freak, Shane always has the latest smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device. He can often be found fiddling with the latest technologies, such as cloud services and mobile platforms, and other exciting, state-of-the-art technologies that activate the creative part of his brain. He also enjoys traveling the world with his geeky wife, even if she did make him dive with 4-meter-long great white sharks and almost get eaten by a lion in Kenya. He admits that he has to take at least two phones with him when backpacking--even though there is no coverage--and that he snickered and whipped out his Android phone to take a picture when Laurie got her tongue stuck to that iceberg in Iceland, and that he is catching on that he should be writing his own bio.
Darcey and Conder coauthored Sams Teach Yourself Android Application Development in 24 Hours.
Inhalt
Introduction 1
Who Should Read This Book 1
Key Questions Answered in This Volume 2
How These Books Are Structured 2
An Overview of Changes in This Edition 4
Development Environment Used in This Book 5
Supplementary Materials Available 6
Where to Find More Information 6
Conventions Used in This Book 7
Contacting the Authors 8
PART I: AN OVERVIEW OF THE ANDROID PLATFORM
Chapter 1 Introducing Android 11
A Brief History of Mobile Software Development 11
Way Back When 11
"The Brick" 13
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) 15
Proprietary Mobile Platforms 17
The Open Handset Alliance 19
Google Goes Wireless 19
Forming the Open Handset Alliance 19
Manufacturers: Designing Android Devices 20
Mobile Operators: Delivering the Android Experience 21
Apps Drive Device Sales: Developing Android Applications 22
Taking Advantage of All Android Has to Offer 22
The Android Marketplace: Where We're at Now 22
Android Platform Differences 23
Android: A Next-Generation Platform 24
Free and Open Source 25
Familiar and Inexpensive Development Tools 25
Reasonable Learning Curve for Developers 26
Enabling Development of Powerful Applications 26
Rich, Secure Application Integration 26
No Costly Obstacles to Publication 27
A "Free Market" for Applications 27
A Growing Platform 28
The Android Platform 29
Android's Underlying Architecture 29
Security and Permissions 31
Developing Android Applications 32
Summary 35
References and More Information 35
Chapter 2 Setting Up Your Android Development Environment 37
Configuring Your Development Environment 37
Configuring Your Operating System for Device Debugging 39
Configuring Your Android Hardware for Debugging 39
Upgrading the Android SDK 41
Problems with the Android Software Development Kit 41
Exploring the Android SDK 42
Understanding the Android SDK License Agreement 42
Reading the Android SDK Documentation 43
Exploring the Core Android Application Framework 43
Exploring the Core Android Tools 46
Exploring the Android Sample Applications 50
Summary 52
References and More Information 52
Chapter 3 Writing Your First Android Application 53
Testing Your Development Environment 53
Adding the Snake Project to Your Eclipse Workspace 54
Creating an Android Virtual Device (AVD) for Your Snake Project 56
Creating a Launch Configuration for Your Snake Project 58
Running the Snake Application in the Android Emulator 59
Building Your First Android Application 62
Creating and Configuring a New Android Project 62
Core Files and Directories of the Android Application 65
Creating an AVD for Your Project 65
Creating a Launch Configuration for Your Project 66
Running Your Android Application in the Emulator 67
Debugging Your Android Application in the Emulator 69
Adding Logging Support to Your Android Application 73
Adding Some Media Support to Your Application 74
Debugging Your Application on the Hardware 78
Summary 80
References and More Information 81
Chapter 4 Mastering the Android Development Tools 83
Using the Android Documentation 83
Leveraging the Android Emulator 85
Viewing Application Log Data with Log…