Schwarz R. et al. - The Android Developer’s Cookbook: Building Applications with the Android SDK

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Building Applications with the Android SDK

Second Edition

Ronan Schwarz
Phil Dutson
James Steele
Nelson To

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ronan Schwarz,
The Android developers cookbook : building applications with the Android
SDK / Ronan Schwarz, Phil Dutson, James Steele, Nelson To.Second
edition.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-321-89753-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Application softwareDevelopment. 2. Android (Electronic resource)
3. Operating systems (Computers) I. Schwarz, Ronan. II. Dutson, Phil,
1981 III. To, Nelson, 1976 IV. Title.
QA76.76.A65S743 2013
004.1675dc23 2013014476

Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, or you may fax your request to (201) 236-3290.

Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.

Android is a trademark of Google, Inc.

ISBN-13: 978-0-321-89753-4
ISBN-10: 0-321-89753-6
Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at RR Donnelley in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
First printing, June 2013

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The Android Developers Cookbook, Second Edition, contains the recipes for developing and marketing a successful Android application. Each recipe in the book contains detailed explanations and examples of the right way to write your applications to become a featured app in the Google Play Store. From understanding the basic features of different versions of Android to designing and building a responsive UI, this cookbook gives you the recipes for success. You will learn to work with Android on every levelfrom hardware interfaces (like NFC and USB), to networking interfaces that will show you how to use mobile data efficiently, and even how to take advantage of Googles powerful billing interface. The authors do an incredible job of providing useful and real-life code examples for every concept in the book that can easily be built on and adapted to any situation and makes this book an essential resource for all Android developers.

David Brown, information data manager and application developer, San Juan School District

Easy to read and easy to understand but not lacking features. This is one of the best books I have read on Android development. If you have the basics down, the recipes in the book will take you to mastery.

Casey Doolittle, lead Java developer, Icon Health and Fitness

The Android Developers Cookbook, Second Edition, provides a fantastic foundation for Android development. It teaches core skills such as layouts, Android life cycle, and responsiveness via numerous multi-threading techniques, which you need to be a skilled Android chef.

Kendell Fabricius, freelance Android developer

This book has something for everyone. Ive been programming Android since 1.0 and I learned some things that are completely new to me.

Douglas Jones, senior software engineer, Fullpower Technologies

To my beloved wife Susan and the OpenIntents Community:
Thank you for your support

Ronan

To Martin Simonnet and the Niantic Project for all the fun they have provided

Phil

To Wei with love

Jim

To my dear mom

Nelson

Android is the fastest growing mobile operating system (OS). With more than 800,000 applications available in the Google Play store, the Android ecosystem is growing as well. There is enough diversity in device features and wireless carriers to appeal to just about anyone.

Netbooks have always been a natural platform to adopt Android, but the liveliness behind Android has fed the growth further into tablets, televisions, and even automobiles. Many of the worlds largest corporationsfrom banks to fast food chains to airlineshave established a presence in Android and offer compatible services. Android developers have many opportunities, and relevant apps reach more people than ever before, increasing the satisfaction of creating a relevant app.