Programming Android

Description

What does it take to build well-engineered Android applications? Explore Android's core building blocks and APIs in depth with this authoritative guide, and learn how to create compelling apps that work on a full range of Android devices. You'll work with proven approaches to app design and implementation-including application frameworks that you can use as a starting point for your own projects.

 Delve into sensors, native development, 3D graphics, and many other topics, and discover how to build apps on the platform of your choice. If you're an intermediate to advanced programmer, you'll learn how to make great Android apps.

* Learn how to use the Android SDK with the Eclipse IDE
* Apply advanced Java concepts regardless of your experience with the language
* Create an Android user interface that's captivating and easy to navigate
* Use the Fragment API for tablet user interfaces
* Make your application compatible with Honeycomb and earlier versions
* Understand Android's unique database design issues and the role of SQLite
* Use sensors and gestures to expand your app's input beyond just tapping and scrolling
* Explore Android APIs for multimedia, location, communication, NFC, and other applications

CONTENTS:

Preface; How This Book Is Organized; Conventions Used in This Book; Using Code Examples; Safari(R) Books Online; How to Contact Us; Acknowledgments; Tools and Basics; Chapter 1: Your Toolkit; 1.1 Installing the Android SDK and Prerequisites; 1.2 Test Drive: Confirm That Your Installation Works; 1.3 Components of the SDK; 1.4 Keeping Up-to-Date; 1.5 Example Code; 1.6 On Reading Code; Chapter 2: Java for Android; 2.1 Android Is Reshaping Client-Side Java; 2.2 The Java Type System; 2.3 Scope; 2.4 Idioms of Java Programming; Chapter 3: The Ingredients of an Android Application; 3.1 Traditional Programming Models Compared to Android; 3.2 Activities, Intents, and Tasks; 3.3 Other Android Components; 3.4 Static Application Resources and Context; 3.5 Resources; 3.6 The Android Application Runtime Environment; 3.7 Component Life Cycles; 3.8 Packaging an Android Application: The .apk File; 3.9 On Porting Software to Android; Chapter 4: Getting Your Application into Users’ Hands; 4.1 Application Signing; 4.2 Placing an Application for Distribution in the Android Market; 4.3 Google Maps API Keys; 4.4 Specifying API-Level Compatibility; 4.5 Compatibility with Many Kinds of Screens; Chapter 5: Eclipse for Android Software Development; 5.1 Eclipse Concepts and Terminology; 5.2 Eclipse Views and Perspectives; 5.3 Java Coding in Eclipse; 5.4 Eclipse and Android; 5.5 Preventing Bugs and Keeping Your Code Clean; 5.6 Eclipse Idiosyncrasies and Alternatives; Chapter 6: Effective Java for Android; 6.1 The Android Framework; 6.2 Organizing Java Source; 6.3 Concurrency in Android; 6.4 Serialization; About the Android Framework; Chapter 7: Building a View; 7.1 Android GUI Architecture; 7.2 Assembling a Graphical Interface; 7.3 Wiring Up the Controller; 7.4 The Menu; Chapter 8: Fragments and Multiplatform Support; 8.1 Creating a Fragment; 8.2 Fragment Life Cycle; 8.3 The Fragment Manager; 8.4 Fragment Transactions; 8.5 The Compatibility Package; Chapter 9: Drawing 2D and 3D Graphics; 9.1 Rolling Your Own Widgets; 9.2 Bling; Chapter 10: Handling and Persisting Data; 10.1 Relational Database Overview; 10.2 SQLite; 10.3 The SQL Language; 10.4 SQL and the Database-Centric Data Model for Android Applications; 10.5 The Android Database Classes; 10.6 Database Design for Android Applications; 10.7 Using the Database API: MJAndroid; A Skeleton Application for Android; Chapter 11: A Framework for a Well-Behaved Application; 11.1 Visualizing Life Cycles; 11.2 Visualizing the Fragment Life Cycle; 11.3 The Activity Class and Well-Behaved Applications; 11.4 Life Cycle Methods of the Application Class; 11.5 A Flowing and Intuitive User Experience Across Activities; Chapter 12: Using Content Providers; 12.1 Understanding Content Providers; 12.2 Defining a Provider Public API; 12.3 Writing and Integrating a Content Provider; 12.4 File Management and Binary Data; 12.5 Android MVC and Content Observation; 12.6 A Complete Content Provider: The SimpleFinchVideoContentProvider Code; 12.7 Declaring Your Content Provider; Chapter 13: Exploring Content Providers; 13.1 Developing RESTful Android Applications; 13.2 A "Network MVC”; 13.3 Summary of Benefits; 13.4 Code Example: Dynamically Listing and Caching YouTube Video Content; 13.5 Structure of the Source Code for the Finch YouTube Video Example; 13.6 Stepping Through the Search Application; 13.7 Step 1: Our UI Collects User Input; 13.8 Step 2: Our Controller Listens for Events; 13.9 Step 3: The Controller Queries the Content Provider with a managedQuery on the Content Provider/Model; 13.10 Step 4: Implementing the RESTful Request; Advanced Topics; Chapter 14: Multimedia; 14.1 Audio and Video; 14.2 Playing Audio and Video; 14.3 Recording Audio and Video; 14.4 Stored Media Content; Chapter 15: Location and Mapping; 15.1 Location-Based Services; 15.2 Mapping; 15.3 The Google Maps Activity; 15.4 The MapView and MapActivity; 15.5 Working with MapViews; 15.6 MapView and MyLocationOverlay Initialization; 15.7 Pausing and Resuming a MapActivity; 15.8 Controlling the Map with Menu Buttons; 15.9 Controlling the Map with the Keypad; 15.10 Location Without Maps; Chapter 16: Sensors, NFC, Speech, Gestures, and Accessibility; 16.1 Sensors; 16.2 Near Field Communication (NFC); 16.3 Gesture Input; 16.4 Accessibility; Chapter 17: Communication, Identity, Sync, and Social Media; 17.1 Account Contacts; 17.2 Authentication and Synchronization; 17.3 Bluetooth; Chapter 18: The Android Native Development Kit (NDK); 18.1 Native Methods and JNI Calls; 18.2 The Android NDK; 18.3 Android-Provided Nativvvvvve Libraries; 18.4 Building Your Own Custom Library Modules; 18.5 Native Activities; Colophon;