The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development, 3.6 version

✍ Scribed by Mark L. Murphy

• Publisher: CommonsWare, LLC
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 731
• Edition: Revised & enlarged
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

"Java Programming & Application Development for Google/Open Handset Alliance Mobile Phones & Internet Devices".

✦ Table of Contents

The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development
......Page 2
Warescription......Page 26
Book Bug Bounty......Page 27
Source Code And Its License......Page 28
Creative Commons and the Four-to-Free (42F) Guarantee......Page 29
Acknowledgments......Page 30
The Big Picture......Page 34
Activities......Page 36
Intents......Page 37
GPS......Page 38
The Big Picture...Of This Book......Page 39
Install the JDK......Page 40
Learn Java......Page 41
Install the SDKs and Add-Ons......Page 42
Step #3: Install the ADT for Eclipse......Page 46
Step #4: Install Apache Ant......Page 48
Step #5: Set Up the Emulator......Page 49
Step #6: Set Up the Device......Page 56
Windows......Page 57
OS X and Linux......Page 58
Eclipse......Page 60
Command Line......Page 64
Eclipse......Page 65
Command Line......Page 66
Root Contents......Page 70
The Sweat Off Your Brow......Page 71
And Now, The Rest of the Story......Page 72
Inside Your Manifest......Page 73
In The Beginning, There Was the Root, And It Was Good......Page 74
An Application For Your Application......Page 75
What the ADT Gives You......Page 78
How to Import a Non-Eclipse Project......Page 79
How to Get To DDMS......Page 84
How to Create an Emulator......Page 86
How to Run a Project......Page 87
Alternative IDEs......Page 88
More on the Tools......Page 89
IDEs...And This Book......Page 90
Supporting Multiple Screens......Page 92
Specifying Versions......Page 93
The Activity......Page 98
Dissecting the Activity......Page 99
Building and Running the Activity......Page 101
About the Remaining Examples......Page 102
What Is an XML-Based Layout?......Page 104
Why Use XML-Based Layouts?......Page 105
OK, So What Does It Look Like?......Page 106
And We Attach These to the Java...How?......Page 107
The Rest of the Story......Page 108
Assigning Labels......Page 112
Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?......Page 113
Fleeting Images......Page 114
Fields of Green. Or Other Colors.......Page 116
Just Another Box to Check......Page 118
Turn the Radio Up......Page 121
Other Useful Properties......Page 123
Colors......Page 124
Working with Containers......Page 126
Concepts and Properties......Page 127
Example......Page 130
The Box Model......Page 135
Concepts and Properties......Page 137
Example......Page 140
Overlap......Page 142
Tabula Rasa......Page 144
Concepts and Properties......Page 145
Example......Page 147
Scrollwork......Page 148
Keyboards, Hard and Soft......Page 152
Tailored To Your Needs......Page 153
Tell Android Where It Can Go......Page 157
Fitting In......Page 160
Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing!......Page 161
Adapting to the Circumstances......Page 164
Using ArrayAdapter......Page 165
Lists of Naughty and Nice......Page 166
Selection Modes......Page 168
Spin Control......Page 170
Grid Your Lions (Or Something Like That...)......Page 174
Fields: Now With 35% Less Typing!......Page 178
Galleries, Give Or Take The Art......Page 182
Getting To First Base......Page 184
A Dynamic Presentation......Page 187
A Sidebar About Inflation......Page 189
And Now, Back To Our Story......Page 191
Using convertView......Page 192
Using the Holder Pattern......Page 194
Interactive Rows......Page 197
Pick and Choose......Page 204
Time Keeps Flowing Like a River......Page 209
Seeking Resolution......Page 211
Putting It On My Tab......Page 212
The Pieces......Page 213
Wiring It Together......Page 214
Adding Them Up......Page 217
Flipping Them Off......Page 221
Getting In Somebody's Drawer......Page 226
Other Good Stuff......Page 230
A Browser, Writ Small......Page 232
Loading It Up......Page 235
Navigating the Waters......Page 236
Entertaining the Client......Page 237
Settings, Preferences, and Options (Oh, My!)......Page 239
Flavors of Menu......Page 242
Menus of Options......Page 243
Menus in Context......Page 245
Taking a Peek......Page 246
Yet More Inflation......Page 251
Menu Options and XML......Page 252
Inflating the Menu......Page 254
In the Land of Menus and Honey......Page 256
Raising Toasts......Page 258
Alert! Alert!......Page 259
Checking Them Out......Page 260
Schroedinger's Activity......Page 264
onCreate() and onDestroy()......Page 265
onStart(), onRestart(), and onStop()......Page 266
The Grace of State......Page 267
A Philosophy of Destruction......Page 270
It's All The Same, Just Different......Page 271
Picking and Viewing a Contact......Page 273
Saving Your State......Page 275
Now With More Savings!......Page 278
DIY Rotation......Page 280
...But Google Does Not Recommend This......Page 283
Forcing the Issue......Page 284
Making Sense of it All......Page 286
The Main Application Thread......Page 288
Making Progress with ProgressBars......Page 290
Messages......Page 291
Asyncing Feeling......Page 295
The Theory......Page 296
The Stages of AsyncTask......Page 297
A Sample Task......Page 298
Threads and Rotation......Page 303
Manual Activity Association......Page 304
Flow of Events......Page 307
Why This Works......Page 308
And Now, The Caveats......Page 309
Creating Intent Filters......Page 310
Pieces of Intents......Page 311
Intent Routing......Page 312
Stating Your Intent(ions)......Page 313
Narrow Receivers......Page 315
The Pause Caveat......Page 316
Launching Activities and Sub-Activities......Page 318
Make an Intent......Page 319
Make the Call......Page 320
Tabbed Browsing, Sort Of......Page 324
The Resource Lineup......Page 330
Plain Strings......Page 331
String Formats......Page 332
Styled Text and Formats......Page 333
Got the Picture?......Page 337
XML: The Resource Way......Page 339
Dimensions......Page 342
Colors......Page 343
Arrays......Page 344
Different Strokes for Different Folks......Page 345
RTL Languages: Going Both Ways......Page 350
Styles: DIY DRY......Page 352
Elements of Style......Page 354
The Available Attributes......Page 355
Inheriting a Style......Page 356
The Possible Values......Page 357
Themes: Would a Style By Any Other Name.........Page 358
Handling Multiple Screen Sizes......Page 360
Taking the Default......Page 361
Whole in One......Page 362
Don't Think About Positions, Think About Rules......Page 363
Avoid "Real" Pixels......Page 364
Tailor Made, Just For You (And You, And You, And...)......Page 365
......Page 366
Resources and Resource Sets......Page 367
Finding Your Size......Page 368
Density Differs......Page 369
Adjusting the Density......Page 370
Ruthlessly Exploiting the Situation......Page 371
Replace Tabs with a Simple Activity......Page 372
Example: EU4You......Page 373
The First Cut......Page 374
Fixing the Fonts......Page 380
Using the Space......Page 383
What If It Is Not a Browser?......Page 386
Why Honeycomb?......Page 390
What the User Sees......Page 391
The Holographic Theme......Page 396
Dealing with the Rest of the Devices......Page 397
Enabling the Action Bar......Page 400
Promoting Menu Items to the Action Bar......Page 401
Responding to the Logo......Page 402
Defining the Layout......Page 403
Putting the Layout in the "Menu"......Page 405
Getting Control of User Input......Page 406
Don't Forget the Phones!......Page 408
Introducing Fragments......Page 410
The Fragments Solution......Page 411
The Android Compatibility Library......Page 413
General Fragments......Page 414
ListFragment......Page 416
Other Fragment Base Classes......Page 421
Fragments, Layouts, Activities, and Multiple Screen Sizes......Page 422
EU4You......Page 423
DetailsActivity......Page 428
Fragments and Configuration Changes......Page 429
Designing for Fragments......Page 430
Things That Make You Go "Boom"......Page 432
Changing Resources......Page 433
Minimum, Maximum, Target, and Build Versions......Page 434
Wrapping the API......Page 437
The Action Bar......Page 440
Writing Tablet-Only Apps......Page 442
You And The Horse You Rode In On......Page 446
Readin' 'n Writin'......Page 450
External Storage: Giant Economy-Size Space......Page 454
When to Write......Page 455
StrictMode: Avoiding Janky Code......Page 456
Seeing It In Action......Page 457
Conditionally Being Strict......Page 458
Linux Filesystems: You Sync, You Win......Page 461
Getting What You Want......Page 464
Stating Your Preference......Page 465
Introducing PreferenceActivity......Page 466
Letting Users Have Their Say......Page 467
Adding a Wee Bit O' Structure......Page 472
The Kind Of Pop-Ups You Like......Page 475
Preferences via Fragments......Page 479
The Honeycomb Way......Page 480
Adding Backwards Compatibility......Page 485
Managing and Accessing Local Databases......Page 488
Start at the Beginning......Page 490
Setting the Table......Page 494
Makin' Data......Page 495
Raw Queries......Page 496
Regular Queries......Page 497
Using Cursors......Page 498
Custom CursorAdapters......Page 499
Flash: Sounds Faster Than It Is......Page 500
Data, Data, Everywhere......Page 501
Ants and Jars......Page 504
The Outer Limits......Page 505
Following the Script......Page 506
Reviewing the Script......Page 511
REST and Relaxation......Page 514
HTTP Operations via Apache HttpClient......Page 515
Parsing Responses......Page 517
Stuff To Consider......Page 519
AndroidHttpClient......Page 520
Downloading Files......Page 521
Continuing Our Escape From Janky Code......Page 533
Why Services?......Page 536
The Service Class......Page 537
Manifest Entry......Page 538
Sending Commands with startService()......Page 539
Binding with bindService()......Page 541
Callback/Listener Objects......Page 542
Broadcast Intents......Page 543
Messenger......Page 544
Notifications......Page 545
The Downloader......Page 546
The Service Implementation......Page 547
Using the Service......Page 550
The Music Player......Page 551
The Service Implementation......Page 552
Using the Service......Page 554
The Web Service Interface......Page 555
The Rotation Challenge......Page 556
The Service Implementation......Page 557
Using the Service......Page 562
Notification Configuration......Page 570
Hardware Notifications......Page 571
Icons......Page 572
Notifications in Action......Page 573
Staying in the Foreground......Page 578
FakePlayer, Redux......Page 579
Notifications and Honeycomb......Page 581
Requesting and Requiring Permissions......Page 586
Mother, May I?......Page 587
Halt! Who Goes There?......Page 588
Enforcing Permissions via the Manifest......Page 589
May I See Your Documents?......Page 590
Permissions: Up Front Or Not At All......Page 591
Accessing Location-Based Services......Page 596
Finding Yourself......Page 597
On the Move......Page 599
Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet?......Page 601
Testing...Testing.........Page 602
Terms, Not of Endearment......Page 604
The Key To It All......Page 605
The Bare Bones......Page 607
Exercising Your Control......Page 609
Center......Page 610
Drawing the ItemizedOverlay......Page 611
Handling Screen Taps......Page 613
My, Myself, and MyLocationOverlay......Page 614
Rugged Terrain......Page 615
Limit Yourself to Android 3.0......Page 617
Use onCreateView() and onActivityCreated()......Page 618
Host the Fragment in a MapActivity......Page 619
Handling Telephone Calls......Page 622
You Make the Call!......Page 623
No, Really, You Make the Call!......Page 626
Love The One You're With......Page 628
Here a Glyph, There a Glyph......Page 632
Hierarchy Viewer: How Deep Is Your Code?......Page 634
DDMS: Under Android's Hood......Page 639
Logging......Page 641
File Push and Pull......Page 642
Screenshots......Page 643
Location Updates......Page 644
Placing Calls and Messages......Page 645
Memory Management......Page 649
adb: Like DDMS, With More Typing......Page 650
The Role of Alternative Environments......Page 654
...And It Was OK......Page 655
Bucking the Trend......Page 656
Caveat Developer......Page 657
What Does It Mean?......Page 660
How Do You Use It?......Page 661
Web Storage......Page 667
What Does It Mean?......Page 668
How Do You Use It?......Page 669
Web SQL Database......Page 670
Signing and Distribution......Page 671
Android Device Versions......Page 672
Limited Platform Integration......Page 673
Performance and Battery......Page 674
Distribution......Page 675
HTML5: The Baseline......Page 676
What Do You Write In?......Page 678
What Features Do You Get?......Page 679
How Does Distribution Work?......Page 680
Using PhoneGap......Page 681
Creating and Installing Your Project......Page 682
PhoneGap/Build......Page 683
Sticking to the Standards......Page 687
Adding PhoneGap APIs......Page 690
Security......Page 693
Screen Sizes and Densities......Page 694
Look and Feel......Page 695
For More Information......Page 696
Rhodes......Page 698
JRuby and Ruboto......Page 699
App Inventor......Page 700
Titanium Mobile......Page 702
Other JVM Compiled Languages......Page 703
This App Contains Explicit... Instructions......Page 706
Implied Feature Requests......Page 708
A Guaranteed Market......Page 709
Other Stuff That Varies......Page 710
Device Testing......Page 711
Questions. Sometimes, With Answers.......Page 714
Heading to the Source......Page 715
Getting Your News Fix......Page 716