Wei-Meng Lee - Android application development cookbook: 93 recipes for building winning apps

Android Application Development Cookbook: 93 Recipes for Building Winning Apps

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Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-17767-9

ISBN: 978-1-118-22729-9 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-24028-1 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-26491-1 (ebk)

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To my family,

Thanks for the understanding and support while I worked on getting this book ready. I love you all!

Wei-Meng Lee is a technologist and founder of Developer Learning Solutions ( www.learn2develop.net ), a technology company specializing in hands-on training on the latest mobile technologies. Wei-Meng has many years of training experience and his courses place special emphasis on the learning-by-doing approach. This hands-on approach to learning programming makes understanding the subject much easier than reading books, tutorials, and other documentation.

Wei-Meng is also the author of Beginning iOS 5 Application Development (Wrox, 2010) and Beginning Android 4 Application Development (Wrox, 2011). You can contact him at weimenglee@learn2develop.net .

Chaim Krause is a Simulation Specialist at the US Armys Command and General Staff College where he develops various software products on a multitude of platforms, from iOS and Android devices to Windows desktops and Linux servers, among other duties. Python is his preferred language, but he is multilingual and also codes in Java, JavaScript/HTML5/CSS, and others. He was fortunate to begin his professional career in the software field at Borland where he was a Senior Developer Support Engineer for Delphi. Outside of computer geek stuff, Chaim enjoys techno and dubstep music, and scootering with his two sled dogs Dasher and Minnie.

Executive Editor

Robert Elliott

Senior Project Editor

Ami Frank Sullivan

Technical Editor

Chaim Krause

Production Editor

Christine Mugnolo

Copy Editor

Luann Rouff

Editorial Manager

Mary Beth Wakefield

Freelancer Editorial Manager

Rosemarie Graham

Associate Director of Marketing

David Mayhew

Marketing Manager

Ashley Zurcher

Business Manager

Amy Knies

Production Manager

Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Neil Edde

Associate Publisher

Jim Minatel

Project Coordinator, Cover

Katie Crocker

Compositor

Craig Johnson, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Proofreader

Scott Klemp, Word One New York

Indexer

Robert Swanson

Cover Designer

Ryan Sneed

Cover Image

Paul Fleet / iStockPhoto

A lot of development in the Android world has happened since my last book, Beginning Android 4 Application Development , went to print. Google has released a new version of the SDK: Android 4.1 SDK. With the Android 4.1 SDK and the ADT Plugin 20.0.3, it is now much easier to write Android applicationsfrom those that run on older devices right up to the latest and greatest.

I would like to thank some key people who have worked hard behind the scenes to make this book a reality.

First, my personal gratitude to Bob Elliott, executive editor at Wrox. Bob is always ready to lend a listening ear and offer help when its needed. It is a great pleasure to work with Bob, as he is one of the most responsive people I have ever worked with. Thank you, Bob, for the help and guidance.

Of course, I cannot forget Ami Sullivan, my editor (and friend), who is always a pleasure to work with. Thank you for your guidance and encouragement to keep the project going, Ami.

I am also grateful to my technical editor, Chaim Krause. Chaim has been eagle-eye editing the book and testing my recipes, ensuring that my code works as written. Thanks, Chaim.

Last but not least, I want to thank my parents and my wife, Sze Wa, for all the support they have given me. They have selflessly adjusted their schedules to accommodate my busy schedule when I was working on this book. My wife, as always, has stayed up with me on numerous nights as I was furiously working to meet the deadlines, and for this I would like to say to her and my parents, I love you all! Finally, to our lovely dog, Ookii, thanks for staying by our side.