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Apps Need Advice: Learning Android Programming

J

jimbowattz

Lurker
So I'm looking to take on a hobby and teach myself to write some very very simple android apps. Nothing commercial, just a hobby.

My programming knowledge is very limited. I took some programming classes at a community college after high school. But just a class or two. I belive one was C and the other was visual basic. However most of the intriqite details have left me long ago. I am a technical person and think i can catch onto things quickly, but i need some advice on where to start and some thoughts on whether this is a hopeless dream or not.

So, here are my questions:

1. I have downloaded the Hello, Android ebook from The Pragmatic Bookshelf. It walks you through building a sudoku app while teaching you the basics. But I see that it was written around android 1.5. Not 2.0. Will the teachings in this book still relate to 2.0?? Or am i wasting my time even starting with this ebook?

2. It says you need some basic knowledge of Java programming, which i don't have. Can I pick up what i need as i go through the book? or do I need to just put off android programming all together until i have a firm grasp on Java?

Again, just looking for a hobby. Not looking to write apps to post to the market. Unless i turn into a prodigy of some sort, lol. But i highly doubt that.

Any help or guidance you can provide will be great. Thanks.
 
1. You should be ok. If you are targeting 2.0, you may get some warnings that methods/classes have been depreciated. But it *should* still work fine.

2. If you have programming experience, then you should be ok. I had next to no Java experience, but as a C# developer, the syntax was very similar, so I only need to learn the ins and outs of the SDK. If you have that programming experience, you should be ok. It would be far tougher if you had never touched programming before.
 
Appreciate the feedback. I don't have extensive experience with programming, but I have seen it before and have taken a couple college classes. So I guess I'll dive in and try to fill in the gaps as I go. Thanks again!
 
Im looking at doing this as a hobby as well, and am currently a programming student, where did you get that ebook you specified?
 
I got the book, if you wanna message me and send me your email, ill give it to you. Its pretty good, but Sams 24hour is better
 
you might as well start off with java. do some basic applets and play around. it will give you an insight of java's class hierarchy system, and you will have much easier time when setting off for android.
 
I learned Java through Minecraft modding, honestly. But I do suggest you get a solid understanding of at least basic syntax.
I believe that visuals help more, so if you feel like you'd like some videos, thenewboston is great from what I've heard. they have all sorts of languages, including Java and Android, which is a combo of Java and XML. For Android dev, I reccomend the Android Studio, as it is the official one and comes in a nice little package, but I prefer Eclipse for everyday Java.
 
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