Introduction

The Android OS is currently the most popular OS in the world today, running on everything from watches to HD smartphones to touchscreen tablets to eBook readers to interactive television sets.

Since there are billions of Android consumer electronics devices owned by people all over the world, it stands to reason that developing applications for these people might just be an extremely lucrative undertaking, given that you have the right concept and design. This book will go a long way toward helping you to learn how to go about creating an attractive Android application which spans multiple types of Android device types and supports multiple Android OS versions.

I wrote Learn Android App Development as the next level up from my Android Apps for Absolute Beginners title, targeting those readers who are more technically proficient, and who are familiar with computer programming concepts and techniques. That being said, this would be a good follow-on title to the Android Apps for Absolute Beginners title, and both cover the latest Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean Plus Android operating system version.

I designed this book to be a far more comprehensive overview of the Android application development work process than most Android app development books. For this reason, this book covers the use of a wide variety of other open source software packages, such as GIMP and Audacity, for instance, and how their usage fits into the overall Android application development work process. This approach serves to set this book distinctly apart from the other Android application development titles currently on the market.

The book starts out with installing the latest Java and Android SDKs and the Eclipse IDE with the Android ADT Bundle, and then progresses through creating a basic Android application and then adding to that application with each chapter. We continue this process until all the major concepts are covered and implemented in one comprehensive Android application. This approach more closely parallels real world application development, where an application is continuously added to over time, making it more and more robust and feature filled as time goes on, while making sure each new feature does not cause the application to crash.

We look at Java objects and constructors, user interface design using XML mark-up, digital imaging and graphics design, digital video and animation, audio sampling and audio sequencing, and other advanced new media concepts and multimedia application features, as that is what is popular in Android application development today. We look at core Android OS areas, including Content Providers (SQLite Databases), Broadcast Receivers, Services, and using Events, Intents, and Activities, all in great detail.

We cover the foundational knowledge that you will need to be able to work in the more advanced areas that the Android OS encompasses. Some of these include digital image compositing, digital video optimization, procedural animation, database design, multi-screen resolution support, 3D rendering, and similar advanced topics regarding which an Android developer needs to know at least the basics in order to work intelligently within their application design and development work process.

If you want a comprehensive overview of Android, Eclipse, Java, XML, and the Android Developer Tools environment, as well as knowledge about how to optimally use these technologies with leading open source new media content design and development tools, then this book will be of great interest to you.