210 likes | 329 Views
Chapter 1: Voilà! Meet the Android. Meet the Android. Smartphones Can browse the Web Allow you to play games Use business applications Check e-mail Play music Record video Map locations with GPS Oh yes, make phone calls and send text messages. Meet the Android (continued).
E N D
Chapter 1: Voilà! Meet the Android
Meet the Android • Smartphones • Can browse the Web • Allow you to play games • Use business applications • Check e-mail • Play music • Record video • Map locations with GPS • Oh yes, make phone calls and send text messages Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Meet the Android (continued) • Android phone platform runs a free, open-source operating system from Google • Open Handset Alliance • 80 companies that develop standards for mobile devices • Android Phone Device • Most popular are EVO, Droid, Galaxy, Echo, etc. • OS also powers tablets, netbooks, e-readers, MP4 players and Internet TVs Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Meet the Android (continued) • Features of the Android • Flash support - Flash video plays within the Android Web browser. (The iPhone does not support Flash capabilities.) • Power management - Android identifies programs running in the background using memory and processor resources. • Optimized gaming - Android supports the use of gyroscope, gravity, barometric sensors, linear acceleration, and rotation vector. Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Meet the Android (continued) • Features of the Android (continued) • Onscreen keyboard - Spell-check, predictive text, voice-input mode. • Wi-Fi Internet tethering - Allows a phone to be used as a wireless or wired hot spot. • Multiple language support - Android supports multiple human languages. • Front- and rear-facing cameras • Voice-based recognition for calling, texting, and navigating with the phone. Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Meet the Android (continued) • Features of the Android (continued) • 3D graphics - The interface can support 3D graphics for a 3D interactive game experience or 3D image rendering. • Facial recognition - Android provides this high-level feature for automatically identifying or verifying a person’s face from a digital image or a video frame. Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Meet the Android (continued) • Writing Android Apps • Java is the language of choice for Android Apps • Object-oriented programming languages allow for good software engineering practices • Eclipse • The most popular tool (IDE) for writing Java programs • Can also be used to develop applications in other languages • XML is used to assist in the layout of the Android emulator Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Meet the Android (continued) • Android Emulator • Design, develop, prototype, and test Android apps without using a physical device • Mimics almost every feature of a real Android handset, except placing phone calls • Current version is Ice Cream Sandwich – all versions named after dessert items (in alphabetical order) • Previous versions include Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo (frozen yogurt), Gingerbread, and Honeycomb Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Meet the Android (continued) • Getting Oriented with Market Deployment • Platform consists of the Android OS, application development tools, and a marketplace Apps are compiled into package files with an .apk extension • Android Market (http://market.android.com) sells and deploys all apps • Programs must meet minimum standards • Apps are free or paid (70/30 split between developer and wireless carrier) • Also sold through Amazon (amazon.com/appstore) and iTunes (both charge a $99 registration fee) Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) • Building the User Interface • Must be intuitive • Interface must not distract from functionality • Java code or XML layout files are needed • XML method is preferred • Can design interface without writing large amounts of code Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) • Taking a Tour of the Package Explorer • Src folder – contains Java source code • Gen folder – contains automatically generated Java files • Android 4.0 library – contains all class libraries • Assets folder – contains asset files • Res folder – contains images, music, and video • Android Manifest.xml – contains information about the application that Android needs to run Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) • Designing the user Interface Layout • Layout – a container that holds as many widgets as needed • Widget– a single element on the screen (Button, Text Box, etc.) • Also called an object Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) Figure 1-10 Layout Displayed in Eclipse Window Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) • Adding a Form Widget to the User Interface Layout Figure 1-12 TextView form widget in the emulator Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) • Adding a Form Widget to the User Interface Layout Figure 1-14 Changing the TextView control text Figure 1-15 Displaying the revised text in the emulator Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) • Testing the Application in the Emulator Figure 1-16 Run As Dialog Box Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) • Testing the Application in the Emulator Figure 1-17 Android main screen and lock icon Figure 1-18 Message in the Android Emulator Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
First Venture into the Android World (cont’d) • Opening a Saved App in Eclipse Figure 1-19 Import dialog box Figure 1-20 Project and directory selected Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Summary • Android OS is released under Apache license allowing anyone to get the full open-source for free • Android OS powers all types of mobile devices • To write apps, you can use Eclipse, an IDE used for building applications • The Android emulator lets you design, develop prototype, and test Android applications • The Android platform consists of the Android OS, the Android application development platform, and the Android marketplace Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java
Summary (continued) • Android supports both Java code and XML layout files, although XML is preferred • The Package Explorer contains folders for an Android project • To design a user interface for an Android app, you can create a layout containing widgets (objects) • The Android emulator allows you to test an application and make sure it runs correctly Android Boot Camp for Developers using Java