Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a really good book on Android development.
I have been extensively programming in java for a few years. Recently
I was reading about a CIO summit in our area and each of the CIOs talked about
how significant the new mobile devices are for banking, transportation
and healthcare.
I wanted to see how to quickly gain expertise in the mobile space to
my already well established enterprise skills.
This book has pointed out that I can be up and running with Android
very quickly even without buying a single android device. I could walk
through almost all the examples of this book through the emulator.
I also like the fact that most of the chapters (except for a couple at
the begining) are stand alone. Each chapter has working examples that
have been specifically developed for that chapter with few
pre-requisites. I am able to download the zip files for each chapter
so that I can import them directly into eclipse. Then I am able to
read through the chapter and look at the working example
simultaneously to make the most of it.
If you look at the google android developer website you see that
android offers an extensive set of APIs. I do find the android
documentation on the android site very good. However I needed a book
that is a bit more organized and take me from concept to concept in a
meaningful manner.
By comparison I can see that this book covers a number of android
basic features that include intents, resources, menus, dialogs,
controls, services, security, preferences, activities, and content
providers. Some of these concepts are very unique to Android. The
authors have gone into a lot of detail while covering these topics. I
must say this strengthened my appreciation of Android as a full
fledged programming platform.
I am also very pleased with the coverage of Android internals that
include processes, threads, handlers, asynchronous tasks, broadcast
receivers, wake locks, long running services, notification manager
etc.
I have always wanted to see what it means to program in opengl. This
book provides an excellent introduction to opengl including the opengl
es 2.0. Be warned though that this is not an extensive guide on
OpenGL. You may have to buy a 500 page book just to do justice to all
the intricacies of OpenGL. This book does have references to further
material that you can read on OpenGL. The animation chapter is really
fun to read. The other advanced topics covered include maps,
telephony, sensors, media.
The coverage on the contacts api is extensive and good.
It is really surprising how quickly this book was released with
coverage for tablets only after a month or two of the honeycomb
release.
Finally for a senior programmer this book goes into how to dive into
the android sdk source code right in the introductory chapter. I found
this really useful when I am not sure how a particular functionality
works when the SDK documentation is not clear.
As I have listed so many things this book covers it is fair to list a
few things that it does not cover. Game programmign is not covered at
all. Live Wall Paper topic is not covered. If you are thinking of
using Bluetooth API to write cool applications it is not covered
either.
But I am really happy with the book because I am able to gain a broad
picture of the Android SDK. I am able to understand its architecture.
I am able to explore its advanced APIs. I am left with a lot
references to supporting material in each chapter.
Excellent in all and all.
Oh, one more thing! The supplemental website that supports this book
androidbook.com seem to contain a lot of the working notes of authors
in addition to their future research on Android SDK.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Pro Android 3
Pro Android 3 shows you how to build real-world and fun mobile applications using the new Android 3.0 SDK. It covers everything from the fundamentals of building apps for embedded devices, phones, and tablets to advanced concepts such as custom 3D components and multi-tasking. Using the tutorials and expert advice, you'll quickly be able to build cool mobile apps and run them on dozens of Android-based smartphones. You'll explore and use the Android APIs, including those for media and sensors. And you'll check out what's new with Android 3.0, including the improved UI across all Android platforms, integration with services, and more, giving you the knowledge to create stunning, cutting-edge apps, while keeping you agile enough to respond to changes in the future. What you'll learn
How to use Android to build Java-based mobile applications for Google phones with a touch screen or keyboard
How to design and implement irresistible user interfaces for touchscreens with Views and layouts
How to populate your application with data from data sources, using Content Providers
How to create 3D graphics with OpenGL and custom components
How to build multimedia and game apps using Android's Media APIs and OpenGL
How to use Android's location-based services, network-based services, and security
How to use new Android 3.0 features, such as Fragments and the ActionBar
Who this book is forThis book is for professional software engineers/programmers looking to move their ideas and applications into the mobile space with Android. It assumes a passable understanding of Java, including how to write classes and handle basic inheritance structures. Table of Contents
Introducing the Android Computing Platform
Setting up your Development Environment
Understanding Resources
Understanding Content Providers
Understanding Intents
Building User Interfaces and Using Controls
Adding Menus
Implementing Dialogs
Working with Preferences and Saving State
Security and Permissions
Working with Services
Exploring Packages, Processes, and Library Projects
Exploring Processes, Components, Threads, and Handlers
Exploring Broadcast Receivers and Long Running Services
Exploring the Alarm Manager
Unveiling 2D Animation
Exploring Maps and Location Services
Using the Telephony APIs
Understanding the Media Frameworks
Programming 3D Graphics with OpenGL
Exploring Live Folders
Home Screen Widgets and Live Wallpaper
Android Search
Exploring Text to Speech and the Google Translate API
Touchscreens
Using Sensors
Understanding the Contact API
Deploying your Application: Android Market and Beyond
Fragments
Action Bar
Selected Topics in Android 3.0
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