hello everyone. my goal is to become an android rom/ app developer. right now im currently attending college for my bachelors in Computer Science. right now im still working on my AA so its going to be a while before i even get into the field. ive researched online about linux and learned the basic codes in terminal to move files, delete them etc. but of course i dont think these codes apply to android.
im not trying to learn all this by myself but i atleast want a basic idea of the type of things im going to be learning.
so far ive downloaded android sdk and eclipse on my ubuntu linux netbook.
do you guys know of any websites that can help me get started or at least point me in the right direction in getting started on my first android rom or app.
thanks
Start with building your first hello in eclipse.
The best place to start is right on the Android site. Watch all the videos and get ready to read lots.
They have tutorials and step by step instructions for your first hello app.
BTW they tell you to break it so you have to fix it.
My biggest obstacle is just doing it.
http://android.voxisland.com has a good set of down and dirty introduction videos to app development for Android. Also, developer.android.com. A lot of that knowledge is pretty essential when doing any other kind of Android devving.
pick up some basic java and you'll have a nice head start.
If your looking for examples you can find them here
[can't post links]
developer.android.com/guide/samples/index.html
I wouldn't pay for videos from some jackasses website - plenty of free java tutorials out there to get you started.
www.anddev.org is a good site
You will need to learn the basic codes in terminal to move files, delete them, etc.
These codes apply to Android.
thanks guys for the replys. im going to start looking for tutorials for java using eclipse.
the android.dev.com pages and anddev.org show me how to make apk files. what im trying to find out is how to make roms and mess with kernels and such. how would the java and apk's tie into that?
I've got the same doubt as ripmeck. I didn't know where to ask for help, so I came here.
And I looked into all the replies, thanks for the help guys.
Unlike ripmeck, its already been two years since I've finished my bachelors.
I'm pretty okay with C programming that includes pointers, structures, etc., (but only the basics of all concepts, cause i know how deep and confusing the root goes).
And I'm slightly familiar with Eclipse, as I have done simple (very simple) java programs in it. Programs that makes use of exception handlers, multithreading etc.,
But I'm not so strong in Java (cause it has got lot more features than C and I couldn't remember it all and make use of it, I've got used to the linear style of coding without making use of any classes ).
My question is:
Should I have to get myself very strong in java before started coding for android app or can I eventually learn the java language in parallel with android development?
There was a thread posted by Cyanogen on XDA called 'some advice' with lots of good info on what you need to get started. Sorry I don't have a link since I'm mobile right now. My suggestion is to find that thread and start there.
Here are some steps vaguely describing what you need. Each is a never ending process.
1. Understand Linux/Unix
2. Understand Android
3. Make something.
My advice is to learn everything you can. Read around XDA and tackle learning each bit individually.
Learn ADB, make some themes or mods using metamorph, learn how to sign files and build update.zip files. Most importantly, have fun.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Setting Up Android SDK for Windows Platforms
If anything doesn't work, or you don't follow directions based on this guide, I will not be held responsible for any outcomes. You are choosing to do this 100% on your own, I am only providing the information to get started. At this point, you are taking your actions into your own hands and are warned about your decisions.
The purpose of this is to familiarize you with setting up Android SDK for Windows. After reading through this tutorial, hopefully you will be able to feel a little more comfortable with setting it up and using it. I will tell you how to set it up, and after that, if you are a little more comfortable you can place the folders wherever you like for a little more convenience for yourself, but as for this tutorial, I am going to have a set destination for everything. So let's begin.
Index:
Download Links.......................................................................................................................................Part I
What Is Android SDK?.............................................. ................................................................................Part II
Setting Up Android SDK............................................... ............................................................................Part III
Basic Command Examples.......................................... .............................................................................Part IV
Summary of Android SDK............................................... ..........................................................................Part V
Part I: Anroid SDK Download Links.
In order for you to get Android SDK set up and running properly, you must first make sure you have the right files. Below this short description, I have included the download links. This tutorial will show you how to setup Android SDK for the Windows platform. I'm going to be completely honest and say that it's the only platform I know how to set it up for, as it's the only platform I have used personally for Android SDK. You can search online for setting up the SDK with other platforms.
Links:
Android SDK Windows Installer.exe
Android SDK Mac OS X (intel) .zip
Android SDK Linux (i386) .tgz
Part II: What is Android SDK?
Android SDK is a very useful tool that allows developers and users alike to take more control of their devices. Was there ever a time, where you wanted to add/remove something from your phone, but it just wouldn't let you?. Have you ever needed to test something that wasn't working, and you needed to find out why? Ever encountered the most famous of lines "Permission Denied"? All of those questions have been asked by many, and with this tutorial, I'm hoping to at least answer some of the many questions surrounding Developing on an Android device. There are many uses for Android SDK, which I hope to cover in this instructional "blog" without boring you guys to death lol. Without getting to indepth at this point as to what SDK does, let's just go over a FEW benefits of using SDK.
1. Debugging. SDK helps you in so many ways, one of the most beneficial being debugging. If you're developing an app for your device, and you are running into constant force closes, then you can fire up SDK and try to find out why.
2. Testing. If you don't feel quite comfortable with testing certain things on your own device, Android SDK also allows you to use an emulator on your computer with real life interactions to show you exactly what would happen if you added/removed something from your device.
3. Rooting. Most of the Rooting techniques we have for the Epic consists of One Click methods brought to you by smart Dev's that like to make things easier for you. Before that, we had to manually push the files to the phone, and put them in the correct places. Sometimes, people don't get so lucky with the One Click method and must revert back to the "Prehistoric Method" lol.
4. Installing Apks. If you have an app that you want to put on your device, but don't have the convenience of adding it with an application manager of some sort, then you can always use the SDK to do so.
5. Adding/Removing Files. A lot of times, certain files managers don't show you everything you need to see in order to do particular things you want to do. With Android SDK, as long as you know the directory, you can move the files. Some times, you may need to set permissions before hand, but that is also capable with SDK.
There are MANY more options for the Android SDK, but I want to keep it short and sweet and not bore you guys too much lol.
Part III: Setting Up Android SDK.
THIS METHOD IS ONLY FOR WINDOWS USERS!
Ok, you've downloaded the correct package for windows, and you're ready to set up Android SDK on your computer. What now?
The windows installer.exe SHOULD check for Java on inital install and install it if you don't have it on your system already. The following statement is basically just for users who have problems after install should it not install Java for your system. If you do not have Java on your computer, you will need to download it at this point. Click here on JDK to download the Java Development Kit. This kit will allow you to run Android SDK through its various Java options.
THIS STEP IS OPTIONAL, YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO THIS FOR SDK TO FUNCTION PROPERLY!
Optionally, if you are planning on developing through Eclipse, then you will also need to install any plugins for it that require Android SDK to operate with Eclipse. The plugin is called the Android Development Tools or ADT Plugin. If you are new to Eclipse, but would like to start learning to develop applications and more, and don't have it on your machine yet, you can download it from here. You MUST make sure that the version of Eclipse that you are installing is suitable for Android. Eclipse recommends versoin 3.4 or higher, and I personally use Eclipse: Galileo, which can be found here.
Now that you have downloaded and installed the Java requirement and Eclipse (only if you chose it, it is NOT required), it's time to actually setup the Android SDK on your computer. When installing SDK to your system, it will allow you to set the path to where it is being installed. Personally, to have the most ease when using it, I chose to place it directly on the C: Drive. Make a note of the directory when installing should you want to use the ADT plugin for Eclipse later on. Just click on the installer.exe that you downloaded for Android SDK, and follow the on screen prompts to get it installed.
OPTIONAL ECLIPSE INSTALL, PLUGIN DIRECTIONS
If you choose to install Eclipse, here are a few steps to get the Anroid Development Tools (ADT) Plugin setup for doing so. Android Development Tools (ADT), is designed to give you a powerful, integrated environment in which to build Android applications. It extends the capabilites of Eclipse to let you quickly set up new Android projects, create an application UI, debug your applications using the Android SDK tools, and even export signed (or unsigned) APKs in order to distribute your application. In general, developing in Eclipse with ADT is a highly recommended approach and is the fastest way to get started with Android.
If you'd like to use ADT for developing Android applications, install it now. Read Installing the ADT Plugin for step-by-step installation instructions.
At the end of the Android SDK install, you are given the option to “Start SDK Manager (to download system images, etc.), go ahead and allow SDK to start. You are presented with a list of packages that will be installed. The list is rather long and contains packages for developing on all versions of Android going back to Android 1.5. If you would like to install all of these packages, go ahead, but they are not necessary for ADB. If you only plan on using ADB, click “Cancel”. Keep in mind, you can always add packages if you decide you would like to develop.Once you hit cancel, you are now in the Android SDK and AVD Manager. In the left pane select “Available Packages” and in the right pane expand “Android Repository” by clicking the “>” next to it. The only package we need for ADB is “Android SDK Platform-tools”. Put a check in the box for that package and select “Install Selected” and in the next window click “Install”. You are prompted to restart ADB, go ahead and click “Yes”. Now, you can close all windows.
One last thing we need to do is to add ADB to our PATH so that ADB will run from any command prompt. To do this Go to Start-->Control Panel-->System and select Advanced System Settings in Windows 7 or Advanced Tab in XP. Click Environment variables. Under the “System Variables” section, find PATH and double click. In the Variable Value box, at the end put C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools seperating the previous entry with a semi colon. For x64 you would use C:\Program Files(x86)\Android\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools.
Now we just gotta check to make sure that it was all installed correctly. To test if we have been successful, plug your phone into your PC, allow the drivers to see your phone, and then open a command prompt. At the command prompt type adb devices . You should see ADB return with your device number.
Part IV: Some Basic SDK Commands.
There are plenty of commands that you can use through SDK, but I will give you a couple to help you with what you need to do. Before you can use any of the commands, you will first need open Windows command prompt to CD to the directory to which you installed your SDK. As I said before, I installed mine to my C: Drive directly, so for me to CD to that directory, the command looks like this.
cd C:/SDK/Tools
To make it even easier, you can hold "Shift" and right click on the "Tools" folder of your SDK and it should bring up a menu in which you can choose "Open Command Prompt". It will then be directly CD'd to that directory without you having to do any thinking .
Now that you are CD'd to the SDK/Tools Directory, you can start performing actions. You MUST! have the drivers for the Samsung Epic 4G installed to do this. If you do not already have the drivers installed (which you should if you have your phone rooted, allowing SDK to work) then you can download them from here provided by noobnl of XDA-DEVELOPERS. If you already have the drivers, then simply skip that step, and head right to the next, which is allowing debugging on your phone. To perform this simple task, on your phone, navigate to Menu>Settings>Applications>Development and select USB Debugging. Now plug your phone in, because it's time to get started. Here are a few basic commands to help you on your way.
1. adb shell - The adb shell command allows you to control your phone as root from your command prompt terminal. When you type "adb shell", you will then be prompted on your phone from Superuser to either allow or deny access. Should you click deny, you will have to restart your phone, reconnect your phone to your computer via USB cable, and start again, so MAKE SURE you click allow. Once you click allow on your phone, your command prompt will return with the pound symbol (#). If it does, you are now controlling your phone as a root user from your computer. You can do a lot of things from this point here which I will cover in another tutorial later, for now, we will just stick to the basics.
2. adb push - The adb push command allows you to transfer files from your computer to your phone without having to mount your sdcard to your phone, copy the file to your phone, then disconnect, and have to use a file manager to manually put the file where you want it. In order to push ANY files to your phone, you MUST have the file in your SDK/Tools folder already. Here is an example of a file you can push to your phone. We will use adding the AOSP Lockscreen to your device as our example.
**First, you will need to download the AOSP Lockscreen.zip from XDA. It will come with a flashable folder, but this method I am about to show you will be for the folks that don't really feel like booting into clockwork and would rather use the access of their computer.
**Second, decompile the AOSP Lockscree.zip and place the android.policy.jar file inside your SDK/Tools folder. Once inside your SDK/Tools folder, it's time to move to the next step.
**Third, with the file from the AOSP Lockscreen in your SDK/Tools folder, it's time to type the command to get it to move from your computer to your phone. Type the following command to do so:
adb push android.policy.jar /system/framework/android.policy.jar
**Finally, with the file pushed to your phone now from your computer, you can safely reboot your phone to enable the changes. To reboot your phone the easiest way, simply type adb reboot. When your phone boots up again, the changes should be made and you should now be enjoying your new AOSP Lockscreen.
3. adb pull - The adb pull command can be used to pull various items from your phone. A simple example of this command would be: adb pull /system/framework/framework-res.apk /Desktop/Android/. You can pull just about anything from your phone, but when I say just about, i mean exactly that. Just about anything. There are certain things you will NOT be able to pull, such as items that are packed inside compressed files (I.E. anything inside a Kernel).
4. ddms - The ddms command allows you to debug your phone in one of the many ways. You can also use the ddms command to take screenshots of your phone should you want to show it off .
5. adb reboot/adb reboot recovery/adb reboot download - These commands are pretty self explanitory. Without having to use the 3 finger death grip, you can use these commands to reboot your phone to your preference whether it be a simple reboot, rebooting to recovery, or rebooting to download mode.
NOTE: If you are using Clockworkmod 3.0.0.5/6 ported by Dameon87, you will need to check to make sure the redirector is working. If the redirector is not baked in, then you MUST use the 3 finger death grip to boot into recovery otherwise it will boot you to the wrong recovery. Clockworkmod 3.0.0.5/6 supports Edify scripting, while Clockworkmod 2.5.5 uses Amend scripting. If you try to use an Amend script in Clockwork 3.0.0.5/6, which only supports Edify Scripting, it will return you with an error saying that it does not support it any longer. This is why it is important to find out if the redirector is baked in or not.
Part V: Summary of Android SDK
Well to bring it all to an end, I would first like to say thanks for taking the time to read this and I sincerely hope this helps you guys with setting up Android SDK for the first time. Just to recap, we went over Downloading the Android SDK, finding a little out about SDK, Setting up Android SDK (as well as installing Java if needed, and Eclipse if you chose to), and some Basic Commands of Android SDK to get you started. I will be writing up an Eclipse tutorial and a more advanced Android SDK tutorial a little later with more commands and help to get you developing in no time. Thanks again for taking the time to read this, and if I have helped you in any way, please, hit the thanks button .
If you have any questions, feel free to either write me a message here on XDA, or joining me in the Team Viper chat. You can access the chat by clicking here and following these simple instructions.
***When the page pops up, first you will need to enter your nickname. Please choose your nickname from XDA so I may better be able to help you.
***Next you will have to choose your channel. Click the dropdown box and choose "other". When the box pops up prompting you to enter the channel, enter #viper as your channel.
***Finally click on the join button and you should be brought right to Team Viper's chat.
Thank you to all the members of Team Viper who helped me throw this together and other members of XDA who have provided either information, downloads, or just a helping hand with the making of this tutorial. Also thanks to Team Whiskey for further easing the transition to using ADB.
Huge thanks for the tutorial. I only wish this was posted this past weekend. I spent about 3 hours on Monday installing SDK and reading fragmented stuff online about how to use it. It was a good learning experience, but I would have spent far less time if I saw this. Thanks again
MAN this is awesome. now my biggest problem will be trying not to spend time reading and learning while at work...BIG THANKS!!!
BT keep up the GREAT work, in behalf of us all!
BT is the King of the Epic Forums..thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication ....Cant wait to see the next installment of ViperRom
If I may add, if you want a full list of the commands while in adb, just type 'adb' and hit enter. It will display a ton of commands that you can use in abd, including the push, pull, reboot, etc. commands.
There are probably more commands that just aren't listed using that command, but I found it very useful as I was perusing.
Thanks for the heads up, I totally spaced on that... ill add it to the OP.
I'm sure this is all great information to have here, but wouldn't a simple link back to Google's Android development pages been easier - it's pretty much the exact same information and even has images and video links.
WolfKaBaL said:
I'm sure this is all great information to have here, but wouldn't a simple link back to Google's Android development pages been easier - it's pretty much the exact same information and even has images and video links.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never fails... I do something here to make it easier than linking to another site and there's always that one guy who just can't be happy for whatever reason... my apologies for doing this... please, let me know who it killed from my efforts to make it easier on you and ill send my respects. I didn't know it was going to kill someone.
Exactly
BT ignore them type cats man we all know you and team viper among others do great work here i can honestly say without you guys,dameon,mammon88 i wouldnt be contributing my own rom you guys offer and willingly give help FREE help at that lol so ignore them man its always one negative person law of nature we need balance even in XDA lol
computerkid23 said:
BT ignore them type cats man we all know you and team viper among others do great work here i can honestly say without you guys,dameon,mammon88 i wouldnt be contributing my own rom you guys offer and willingly give help FREE help at that lol so ignore them man its always one negative person law of nature we need balance even in XDA lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I just feel like every time I say something on here, Michael Jordan creeps up behind me and sings in my ear "Anything you can do, I can do better.... I can do anything better than you"
I'm not trying to disrespect your efforts, and I do respect all the work you do on the roms and tools. But when it comes to stuff like this, I simply feel it's best left to the creators - eg: Google. Their repository of information is going to remain up-to-date and correct 99.9% of the time. Anything you post here will have to be continually updated as things change. Essentially you're fragmenting the information. That's the point of a central repository - to keep all the information together and current.
Also as far as the "making it easy" - and again, I mean no offence, but it is a lot easier to sort through and read the original documentation on Google's site simply because of formatting. [This is 100% a personal opinion though.]
In general though, if given the option to have to either link here to this post, or link back to Google and their posts, I'm pretty sure the better option is to link to the original content.
As for all the people dying and what-not.. not sure where you're getting at there, a little over-dramatic maybe? - All I'm doing is letting people know the content has been replicated - had you started off the post with a link to Google's documentation, and then continued with saying "to sum it all up, here's a quick reference" then everything is fine.
I'm not trying to troll or anything, but to a certain degree flooding the forums with redundant information becomes a waste of space, time, and effort (for the creator and the readers) - especially in the developer's section, as I think knowing of and how to use the SDK should be prerequisite for participation.
Personally I disagree. Having been to googled sdk page, this seems more comforting and real world. Maybe its because, psychologically I feel I can get his help if I get stuck. I'm hearing first hand that he has done it. Same with the rest of the info in this forum. Knowing if you repeat these steps you will see these results. After all, theres nothing new here, just building off other peoples concepts/skills/code/designs/etc.
even if its just for me, the only idiot who needed help, I hope BT is glad he posted. Thanks man! Keep it up.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I personaly am glad BT posted this here, I always find his instructions clear and concise, and I don't see how it's in anyone's way, you don't have to click on it. hopefully the remainder of this thread will deal with questions and issues regarding the matter at hand, the Android SDK I myself have it installed but probably not fully set up.... and this thread will help. thanks BT!
WolfKaBaL said:
I'm not trying to disrespect your efforts, and I do respect all the work you do on the roms and tools. But when it comes to stuff like this, I simply feel it's best left to the creators - eg: Google. Their repository of information is going to remain up-to-date and correct 99.9% of the time. Anything you post here will have to be continually updated as things change. Essentially you're fragmenting the information. That's the point of a central repository - to keep all the information together and current.
Also as far as the "making it easy" - and again, I mean no offence, but it is a lot easier to sort through and read the original documentation on Google's site simply because of formatting. [This is 100% a personal opinion though.]
In general though, if given the option to have to either link here to this post, or link back to Google and their posts, I'm pretty sure the better option is to link to the original content.
As for all the people dying and what-not.. not sure where you're getting at there, a little over-dramatic maybe? - All I'm doing is letting people know the content has been replicated - had you started off the post with a link to Google's documentation, and then continued with saying "to sum it all up, here's a quick reference" then everything is fine.
I'm not trying to troll or anything, but to a certain degree flooding the forums with redundant information becomes a waste of space, time, and effort (for the creator and the readers) - especially in the developer's section, as I think knowing of and how to use the SDK should be prerequisite for participation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're entire post is a matter of opinion ...what you find easier others may not ....that's like saying that if you had to choose between chicken or a hamburger for dinner, you'd go with hamburger so everyone should... Some people may just like chicken. But thanks for your OPINION.
BThomas22x said:
Never fails... I do something here to make it easier than linking to another site and there's always that one guy who just can't be happy for whatever reason... my apologies for doing this... please, let me know who it killed from my efforts to make it easier on you and ill send my respects. I didn't know it was going to kill someone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
his mommy didnt hug him enough
and thanks bt navigating said link was kinda of confusingly setup. much simpler and straight forward
Thanks for posting this here. I dl the sdk kit a few months ago and it was a bit confusing. The site gave me information overload and I just gave up. Now I think I will try it again (being a nurse I am no stranger to technology) as I would like to develop some apps for critical care nurses.
Edit: Subscribed
Sent from Bonsai v 5.0.3
Nice Job
Thanks for posting this guide it will help many people along the adb path.
WolfKaBaL said:
I'm not trying to disrespect your efforts, and I do respect all the work you do on the roms and tools. But when it comes to stuff like this, I simply feel it's best left to the creators
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your opinion matters not. What's best for THIS community is that this dev (and a damn good one at that) has put together a concise and easy to follow guide. He's also here to answer questions and help those that don't quite know how to use the SDK... can u get that over on google's site ?
right.
dorkboy said:
- eg: Google. Their repository of information is going to remain up-to-date and correct 99.9% of the time. Anything you post here will have to be continually updated as things change. Essentially you're fragmenting the information. That's the point of a central repository - to keep all the information together and current.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pretty sure BThomas won't mind updating as necessary, and if not, anyone that gets through this guide can go find the updated information on their own.. so, the problem is ........ ??
right..
Also as far as the "making it easy" - and again, I mean no offence, but it is a lot easier to sort through and read the original documentation on Google's site simply because of formatting. [This is 100% a personal opinion though.]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u find sorting through information and digging for reference easier.. others find a step by step guide to be easier to navigate.. personally, a GPS navigation works similarly to a 'step by step' guide.. so this portion is trolling.
douchenozzle said:
In general though, if given the option to have to either link here to this post, or link back to Google and their posts, I'm pretty sure the better option is to link to the original content.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and you're the expert, right ??
platypus said:
As for all the people dying and what-not.. not sure where you're getting at there, a little over-dramatic maybe? - All I'm doing is letting people know the content has been replicated - had you started off the post with a link to Google's documentation, and then continued with saying "to sum it all up, here's a quick reference" then everything is fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't aware that BThomas needed your approval for posts, thanks for pointing that out
troller said:
I'm not trying to troll or anything, but to a certain degree flooding the forums with redundant information becomes a waste of space, time, and effort (for the creator and the readers) - especially in the developer's section, as I think knowing of and how to use the SDK should be prerequisite for participation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you feel SDK should be a pre-requisite for participation, then how would developers get started ?? There's a dev in each of us.. the problem is that most of us don't have a good starting point because often times it's overwhelming the way google has collected the info.
This guide is an AWESOME way for someone to begin as a dev and I thank BThomas a ton for the effort putting it together.
Sorry for the 'bashing' in my post, but this guy pissed me off.
[/pissed_off]
People don't come here just to be linked to other sites. The central repository for us, is HERE. Although reading the manual should be included, I'd much rather have real world knowledge from someone who knows what they're doing.
My opinion, of course
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Yes I am asking you!
Your personal experience on how you learned coding!
Feel free to vent, my eyes are wide open
my reason? Why I have a book on coding (for Andriod) and the coding package (Eclipse, Andriod SDK, and SO ON)
but is this enough?
How did you start? What was your motivation?
is it fun!?
Please if anyone replies to it, i'd be very happy
Many moons ago, there was a magazine called BBC Micro User, and in it there were pages and pages of code for games written in BASIC.
Normally the code was wrong in places, which meant you had to debug and therefore learn how it worked rather than just copying it verbatum.
This is of course related to our phones as the BBC B was an ancestor to them (now there's a thought!)
Problems? No problems! You need a small program to make your life easier? Go and read in all forums! Ask questions! Start programing by leaning by doing.
Mizulunaris said:
Yes I am asking you!
Your personal experience on how you learned coding!
Feel free to vent, my eyes are wide open
my reason? Why I have a book on coding (for Andriod) and the coding package (Eclipse, Andriod SDK, and SO ON)
but is this enough?
How did you start? What was your motivation?
is it fun!?
Please if anyone replies to it, i'd be very happy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why did you buy a book to find out about technology?!? That book will be outdated tomorrow...I suggest looking up info on the internet and there's this cool thing that's called google that lets you ask any question you want...check it out.
Hope this helped Mizu Luna!
Thank you all for relpying !
think the book is already out dated XD
It was made when android 2.2 just came out....I figured any info toget me startd would be nice.....
I still haven't gotten into the gist of the forum though.....I still don't know many of the terms and aren't familiar to a lot of things talked about...or where things are placed.....and no formal training to help me.....
I guess I'll read on a bit until I can properly place my feet
I couldn't even tell you how I started, I was like 8 years old and just playing around for the hell of it. Been switching around and trying languages ever since. As for motivation, the only reason I ever write a program is because I need something done... I'll feel like I wish my PC/phone/website did something differently - so I make it do that
Really, the best thing to do is just dive right into it. If you want to start with Android, find a good tutorial that at least has you get an IDE and build environment set up... Then from there just start experimenting with some example code, or apps others have written as you go through more tutorials.
If you want to properly learn how to code though, most would suggest starting with something on a PC rather than diving right into Android dev. Starting with an easy-to-use scripting language or interpreter (like Python) is a good way to start playing around - and then you can move on to other languages such as Java with a solid understanding of how programming languages work.
It's all personal preference though, just find a solid tutorial and stick with it. Try to experiment as you go along, try things with the code, and actually understand what it's telling you.
I started with webpage design and slowly moved into other venues. I became interested in making apps for ideas that I had and started to search google on how to code specific tasks that I wanted in my apps and then mixing it all together and making small changes in the code and watching to see what it did.
NEWBIE...Im fairly new into the developing world, but I have a solid background in anything computer orrientated. I started with a droid x, rooted it, and have never looked back. I'm taking java classes and learning as much as I can about programming. Any helpfull advice for someone starting a career/lifelong hobby in this feild? Reading a lot of books and blogs, but any other resources would be greatly appreciated.
Thx to all the professional devs out there who make it a fun digital world to cusomize!!!!
http://goo.gl/xB9rK
Lets start by using the search function.
This question gets asked and answered several times per week...
Personally i would skip the books.
I started by an idea in my mind what i wanted my app to do and taught myself through tutorials, stackoverflow, irc and lots of google...
Start something small, maybe an app that plays a single mp3 file.
Now you think, how can i choose different ones -> make a file explorer.
And so on... kinda like reading wikipedia, you start with some topic but end up in another topic far away ;-).
Thats if you want to program apps... there are lots of types of devs.... apps, roms, themes, kernel...
Now don't say you want to learn everything .
Thanks & more
Thanks for being the first to reply! And also for the info. I've done a little programming, vb and java, but am more interested in the rom/kernal side of things. Seen the vid before! Awesome!
I tried searching the site for what I'm looking for but unsuccesfull, figured the best way to get forward in this site, and get specific info, was to post a thread in one of the only places I could. Reread the rules and newbie posts, and figured out the reasons but they dont bother meat all.
Guess I'm looking more of an answer to this question, from everyone who replies:
How did u get to where u are now? (be it app dev, device help, other software dev)
Again thx for the help! P.S. what software do u use to program? And which os is preferred, linux, windows, mac?
I'm learning linux as fast as I can and wouldn't mind help there either if its out there.
Sent from my Xoom. Via whatever the heck I want!
I started with knowledge in C++,C,SystemC and some script languages from university + plus some knowledge about programming in general.
We had to use java in the university but i never properly learned it (just couldnt be bothered). I knew the ideas behind it and some concepts.
I actually only started learning java after i had written the exams (one which was about java but thank god didn't require actual working code in the exam ).
This was winter 2010.
So after i no longer had to learn it, i wanted to learn it and started out pretty basic.
Used google alot tried the basic tutorials, i.e. button doing something and so on.
After that got boring i was looking for an app with an actual purpose.
I made a voice recording app, did some bounty requests, wrote a control app for a modification from another xda member and some other stuff, cba to list it all now .
I use the android sdk + eclipse. Currently on windows 7, but that doesn't really matter. I've got a laptop with linux and a virtual machine with it too. It just that i also play video games for which windows is somewhat required and so i'm programming on it too. But it doesn't really matter. Eclipse and android sdk don't really differ on the OSs.
For compiling kernels, you might need linux, but maybe its possible under windows too... (cygwin)... don't really know ;-)
The thing is, you don't need to read 5 books, have 2 degrees in X to start.
Let's take custom ROMs.
No one actually builds those things from scratch.
90% of them are just other ROMs(custom or stock) that have been modified to some extend.
Download a ROM, unpack it, swap some files, change some scripts/configs, maybe recolor some things, add some extra apps, maybe a different kernel.
Repack it and XING you made a custom ROM.. now just flash it and see if it works, if it doesn't... well try again
Trial&Error...
You will get more knowledge about what you can change and what can be done with the time.
There is a custom ROM tutorial thread somewhere on xda, just search for it.
I'm going to write a little bit on my next app now