Apps I want to learn to write Apps!

[btcomp]

Hi all. I am new here. And I have had an Android phone, my second for three years. I tried my hand at writing an app three years ago, and wrote a simple one. I don't remember it much, just an example. My question, and I am a programmer & web developer with lots of experience, but not on the mobile phone platforms. So, I have found two ways to do this, and would like some input to what might be the route to take.

My reason for doing this, is to improve my employment, as I want to remain flexible in my programming and being able to write phone apps, can only help.

So I have listened a bit to the MIT way using Appinventor. It looks cool, and I am used to GUIs, and looks like one of the easier ways to get a start.

But, then the old-fashioned way of downloading Java, SDK, JDK... (whew, that wore me out three years ago. So I came across the ADT Bundle method. Now I have downloaded but without Eclipse, since I have a copy. But this seems still like the same downloading several programs. Fortunately I have the Java programs downloaded. But it seems so much harder than the MIT way.

So I am open to other choices or one of the two methods I have described above. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[ecy5maa]

The other way is to make a HTML5 hybrid app, using libraries like PhoneGap. However, nothing beats native apps in terms of access to the underlying stack in Android, so I think for employment purposes you are better suited to learning Java and making Android apps the traditional way.

Also, just to point out that I have yet to come across any jobs requiring proficiency in Appinventor. 80% are jobs requiring native development (i.e. using Java) and 20% are those that require hybrid development.

 

[btcomp]

Thanks, it took me a bit to get here. I do like the way App Inventor easy with the GUI. It looks like a lot of thought put into the things you can do easier. It took forever to get Android setup for different styles (?). Very confusing, which seems to be the trademark of Java. The language OOP like C# and .Net but always major updates.

Well, I will learn something, HTML5 may work too. It just has to be something that doesn't take so much time, that in five years is outdated, that is what I want to avoid.