Frank Ableson

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Recent posts by Frank Ableson

Probably just "lucky"

I don't believe there is any significant coverage in AiA -- there may be a spot comment on it in Chapter 3 if at all. Personally I have not run into this problem (yet).
13 years ago
Android in Action is aimed at developers with a familiarity with Java but not necessarily experience with Android. If you have experience with Android, you will find a lot of interesting content beyond basic "SDK" coverage.
13 years ago
Thanks for the great questions and warm welcome. Some of the longer code snippets are a bit challenging to answer here but higher level questions about Android positioning, strategies and specific questions about the book are great.

13 years ago
yes asynch! Just be sure to properly wire up your androidmanifest.xml file!
13 years ago
apps for running in the browser. Could be

straight up from the browser app
in an webview within your app
in a natively compiled app ala a framework such as phonegap

all webkit/html/css/javascript

JQuery Mobile is also on the horizon. You can learn more about that project:

http://jquerymobile.com
also I have a few tutorials over @ Linux Magazine
http://linux-mag.com

13 years ago
Claudio

There are many developers who write apps and attempt to sell them. You will note however that the highest number of downloads are for "free" applications. Personally I think that the place to win with mobile applications commercially is by providing value in a free application that is either a portal for "gated" content and/or for building brand loyalty as an add-on to an existing product. For example, I have written essentially "catalog" applications for large clients who wanted to be more in touch with their client base. The app is free, but it increases touch and loyalty with this brand's clients.

Frank
13 years ago
Manfred,

I am particularly partial to chapter 1 of Android in Action as I wrote it -- and I feel that it does a pretty good job of laying out the architecture of the platform and how things are wired together. I would suggest starting there.

The chapter was updated in the second edition, though the first chapter of the first edition is freely available: http://manning.com/ableson/SampleChapter1.pdf

Cheers.

Frank
13 years ago
At first blush, I think that is fine. And kudos to you for being proactive about orientation
13 years ago
I would tackle it the other way and ask when should an app actually be constrained to one or the other. Moving forward I would expect to make your apps rotation-aware and act happily either way. There are some circumstances where that really might not fit. For example in Android in Action, the chapter on Bluetooth and Sensors, we use an Android phone's orientation sensor to "steer" a lego Mindstorm robot. It would not make sense to allow rotation as you would run into problems driving the robot if the orientation kept changing.
13 years ago
Good question. I cannot comment specifically on Groovy, however I would recommend that you search for Android Scripting Engine or SL4A is the current name
13 years ago
It may sound like a loaded answer, but I generally recommend our book as the first few chapters get the stage set very well. There are also a number of good forums on Android and IBM Developerworks has quite a few articles and tutorials covering Android development basics.
13 years ago
I have found the webkit browser in the emulator to be a great development tool. I would also suggest downloading the browser from webkit.org as it contains a number of useful tools to test your "android" browser sites against. The web development chapter in Android in Action will be of interest to you.

Also, here are a couple of tutorials I wrote a while back on the topic of Android (and iPhone) browser app development:

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-androidiphone1/

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-androidiphone2/


Frank
13 years ago
A comfort level with Java is important to get the most out of Android -- absolutely.

Android is the kind of operating system you would design if you had the choice yourself. It is largely open and very extensible. It is available in all shapes and sizes and will continue to find its way into devices beyond mobile phones.
13 years ago
Lance,

Good question.

I would recommend Android in Action for folks who have a comfort level with Java. If you've never coded in java but have coded in other languages or for other mobile platforms, then I would suggest you take a quick look at a Java primer on the web and then look at Android in Action.

Android in Action is suited for newbies to Android as well as experienced Android developers looking for a wide and deep set of examples and sample code. The latter portion of the book appeals to more experienced folks while the first 11 chapters are geared more toward the beginner.

Good luck with you Android coding!

Frank
13 years ago
Services should hang out much longer than an Activity, yes.

I would suggest using a model of alarms which trigger a service. The service then performs what it needs to do and then terminates. This way you control the flow and you have a ready means to "restart".

if you need to react to an event, consider a BroadcastReceiver that is triggered by some event (incoming SMS for example, or an alarm triggering).

Have a look at the AppWidget example in Android in Action, as it probably hits your need of updating the "UI" yet does so without the expense of always having an Activity plus Service running.
13 years ago