Andrew said
Perfect! And quicker than I expected.
I thought it was going to take at least a month and I got it in 17 days. Well done AMAZON.Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform (Pragmatic Programmers)
Steve K. Oliver II said
I've read several books on Android from cover to cover, and skimmed several others, and "Hello, Android" is hands-down the best introduction to Android development.
Here's why I say that --
You really can get through the book in a day or two. The explanations are clear, the topics focus on what's relevant to getting started in Android development, and when you're done you have the skills to dive into the SDK to continue learning.
There is a consistent example project that is developed throughout the book. I found this very helpful, because it showed me how all the different parts fit together. For example, launching activities from an existing activity, using multiple classes in your project, adding preferences, etc.
There are very few (if any) "gotchas" in this book. I followed the examples step by step without any problem. I think some people have used the book's online forum to ask about which packages to import, but when I used Eclipse it was done automatically for me. (By the way, all the files are also online.)
Even after having many months of Android development under my belt, I find that I still refer back to this book from time to time. That's saying something for a book that sets out to be an introduction.
Remember, this book is a great introduction. If you already know Android and are looking for a deep-dive, look elsewhere. But if you are curious about all the excitement around Android and have a few hours to spare, spend them with this book and find out what developing in Android is all about.
Eric M. Burke said
The title, "Hello, Android", is perfect, because this is an introduction to Android. This is not designed as an exhaustive reference, nor should it be. Instead, it is the perfect length for quickly coming up to speed on the basics.
I am an experienced Java developer, and this book helped me learn Android quickly. It does not waste time explaining how to use Java, so if you are an absolute newbie, this might not be for you.
Android is rapidly evolving, and Ed is doing a great job keeping up with changes to Android. You can also get the PDF version, and Pragmatic Bookshelf lets you download beta chapters as they are updated.
David S. Lamb said
Update: Changed my rating from 3 to 2 stars. I was going through the location chapter and stopped at this paragraph - "The code for the remaining methods of LocationTest--log( ), dumpProviders(), and dumpLocation( )--is not very interesting, so I won't bore you with it here. You can find it all in the downloadable samples on the book's website." This book is way to dependent on you going to the website. It presumes an internet connection, which might not be available wherever I might want to read this book (e.g. coffee shops) or might just be down. So I could just be stuck with incomplete code. I had a read through Pro Android and found that book to be excellent, only missing a section on SensorManager unfortunately. I would go with that one over Hello Android. Rest of my unchanged review is here:
I still rate this book with 3 stars despite how irritating I'm finding it. I figure it is irritating because of my learning style. It covers a wide range of topics, so it might still be worth having around.
It started out fine, and was able to breeze through, even though I had some problems with the initial Sudoku problem. Why I find this book so irritating is the order of the code. The author creates classes and methods that will eventually reference other classes and methods while never saying how the components all fit together. In the case of the Sudoku game, the game logic actually comes at the end of the one of the chapters, whereas for me it would make more sense to place this at the beginning of the chapter to get an understanding of how the game works and then build the xml interfaces on top of this as needed, allowing me to understand how all the components work together. It is obvious the author is just giving the code as he created it rather than going through how to create an Android app. This could just be the way I like to learn programming though. In between the code examples there is little in way of explanation either. I skipped ahead to another chapter to get away from the Sudoku example, and found it similar with poor-ordering and limited explanations.
Do visit the website as there is more help and corrections available.
Travis Highley said
this book seemed to be leaving stuff out, even early on with the "hello, world" example. screen shots didn't match up. and the publisher's website offers a free upgrade if you purchased the electronic version. i guess i am screwed since i bought a printed one.
i did like how in the first part of the sudoku example the book had you program a little, then publish out and see the result. then a little more, and then see the result. but when you get to chapter 4, that practice is dropped. at that point on, there are just pages of code to muscle through. there is some explanation as you go along, but i really need to see the result of what i am doing in order to understand it. how about a little pay off every few pages?
i found myself eventually just copying the code from the publisher's site and going to the sdk for explanation. then i started to wonder why i paid for this book, if i was just going to be referencing the sdk online for free.
i had already ordered Professional Android Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) but picked this one up at a local store because i was too excited to wait. i guess i should have. "Professional Android Application Development" seems like it might be more helpful. we will see.
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