Android Development

This course is for enterprise application developers wishing to build a mobile front-end. It is also applicable to games developers wishing to develop for mobile phones as well as programmers wishing to extend their platform capabilities.

Familiarity with the Java Programming Language. Having attended our Java Programming course would be ideal.

Module 1 An introduction to Android and Android Studio

• An overview of Android

• Types of devices

• Types of apps

• A brief history

• Versions

• System architecture

• How apps are compiled and run

• An introduction to Android Studio

• How to work with the Welcome page

• How to open an existing project

• How to view the user interface for an app

• How to view the code for an app

• How to run an app on a physical device

• How to run an app on an emulator

• The user interface

Module 2 How to start your first Android app

• The Tip Calculator app

• How to create a new project

• How to develop the user interface

• How to work with a layout

• How to add widgets to a layout

• How to set the display text

• How to work with resource files

• How to set properties

• Common properties

• The XML for the user interface

Module 3 How to finish your first Android app

• How to write the Java code

• How to work with an activity

• How to remove the v7 appcompat support library

• How to get references to widgets

• How to handle the EditorAction event

• How to get and set the text for widgets

• The lifecycle of an activity

• How to save and restore values

• The Java code for the app

• More skills for finishing an app

• How to work with the Gradle build script

• How to work with dependencies

• How to work with the Android manifest

• How to set the launcher icon for an app

• How to use the documentation for the Android API

Module 4 How to test and debug an Android app

• Basic skills for testing and debugging

• Typical test phases

• How to check the layout

• How to handle runtime errors

• How to trace code execution

• How to use LogCat

• How to use toasts

• How to use the debugger

• How to set and remove breakpoints

• How to step through code

• How to inspect variables

• How to inspect the stack trace

• How to create emulators

• How to create an emulator for a tablet

• How to create an emulator for a phone with a hard keyboard and DPad

Module 5 How to work with layouts and widgets

• An introduction to layouts and widgets

• A summary of layouts

• A summary of widgets

• The View hierarchy

• How to work with layouts

• How to use a linear layout

• How to use a table layout

• How to use a frame layout

• How to nest layouts

• How to provide a landscape layout

• How to work with widgets

• How to use editable text views

• How to use check boxes

• How to use radio buttons

• How to use spinners

• How to use seek bars

• How to display images

• How to show and hide widgets

• How to add scroll bars

• How to display web content

Module 6 How to handle events

• A summary of listeners

• High-level events

• Low-level events

• Four techniques for handling events

• How to use the current class as the listener

• How to use a named class as the listener

• How to use an anonymous class as the listener

• How to use an anonymous inner class as the listener

• When to use each technique

• How to handle high-level events

• How to handle events for check boxes and radio buttons

• How to handle events for radio groups

• How to handle events for spinners

• How to handle events for seek bars

• How to handle low-level events

• How to handle Key events

• How to handle Touch events

• The Java code for the activity

Module 7 How to work with themes and styles

• An introduction to themes and styles

• Three common themes

• How to supply different themes for different APIs

• How to convert an existing project to the AppCompat theme

• How to work with styles

• How to define a style

• How to apply a style

• How to create a style sheet

• How to work with themes

• How to modify a built-in theme

• How to modify the AppCompat theme

• How to modify a theme depending on the API

• How to modify the text appearance for a theme

• A summary of built-in themes

• How to apply themes

• How to work with colors

• How to define colors

• How to apply colors

Module 8 How to work with menus and preferences

• How to work with menus

• An introduction to menus

• How to define a menu

• How to display an options menu

• How to handle option menu events

• How to start a new activity

• How to work with preferences

• An introduction to preferences

• How to define preferences

• How to display preferences

• How to get preferences

• How to use preferences

• More skills for working with preferences

• How to group preferences

• How to enable and disable preferences

• How to use Java to work with preferences

Module 9 How to work with fragments

• An introduction to fragments

• Single-pane and multi-pane layouts

• The lifecycle methods of a fragment

• How to use single-pane layouts for small screens

• How to create the layout for a fragment

• How to create the class for a fragment

• How to display a fragment in an activity

• How to create a preference fragment

• How to display a preference fragment in an activity

• How to use multi-pane layouts for large screens

• How to add multiple fragments to a layout

• How to detect screen width

• How to control the soft keyboard

• Other skills for working with fragments

• How to get a reference to a fragment

• How to replace one fragment with another

Module 10 How to work with threads, files, adapters, and intents

• An introduction to the News Reader app

• The XML for an RSS feed

• How to work with threads

• How threads work

• How to execute asynchronous tasks

• How to execute timed tasks

• How to update the UI thread

• How to work with files

• How to download a file from the Internet

• How to parse an XML file

• The RSSFeedHandler class

• The RSSFeed class

• The RSSItem class

• How to work with adapters

• How to create the layout for a list view

• How to use an adapter to display data in a list view

• How to handle events for an adapter

• How to work with intents

• How to pass data between activities

• How to view a URL in a web browser

• How to dial or call a phone number

• The News Reader app

• The activity_items layout

• The ItemsActivity class

• The FileIO class

• The activity_item layout

• The ItemActivity class

Module 11 How to work with services and notifications

• How to work with the Application object

• How to define the Application object

• How to register the Application object

• How to use the Application object

• How to work with services

• The lifecycle of a service

• How to create a service

• How to register a service

• How to start and stop a service

• How to use threads with services

• How to test a service

• How to view all services

• How to work with notifications

• How notifications work

• How to create a pending intent

• How to create a notification

• How to work with system services

• How to display or remove a notification

• How to check if a network connection is available

• The NewsReaderService class

Module 12 How to work with broadcast receivers

• How to work with system broadcasts

• A summary of the system broadcasts

• How to code a receiver for the boot completed broadcast

• How to code a receiver for the connectivity changed broadcast

• How to work with custom broadcasts

• How to create and send a custom broadcast

• How to code a receiver for a custom broadcast

Module 13 How to work with SQLite databases

• An introduction to databases

• The user interface for the Task List app

• An introduction to SQLite

• An introduction to the Task List database

• The business objects for the Task List app

• How to create a database class

• How to define the constants for a database

• How to define the SQL statements that create a database

• How to create or upgrade a database

• How to open and close a database connection

• How to add public methods to a database class

• How to retrieve multiple rows from a table

• How to retrieve a single row from a table

• How to get data from a cursor

• How to insert, update, and delete rows

• How to test the database

• How to test the database class

• How to clear test data from a device

• How to work with the database file

• How to use DB Browser for SQLite

Module 14 How to work with tabs and custom adapters

• How to use tabs

• How to add the TabManager class to your project

• The layout for an activity that displays tabs

• The class for an activity that displays tabs

• The class for a fragment that displays tab content

• How to use a custom adapter

• A layout for a list view item

• A class that extends the layout for a list view item

• A class for a custom adapter

• A class for a fragment that uses a custom adapter

• The Task List app

• The activity_task_list menu

• The TaskListActivity class

• The activity_add_edit and spinner_list layout

• The activity_add_edit menu

• The AddEditActivity class

Module 15 How to work with content providers

• An introduction to content providers

• URIs for content providers

• MIME types for content providers

• How to add supporting methods to the database class

• How to create a content provider

• How to start a content provider class

• How to provide for querying

• How to provide for inserting rows

• How to provide for updating rows

• How to provide for deleting rows

• How to register a content provider

• How to use a content provider

• How to use a custom content provider

• How to use a built-in content provider

• How to work with a dialog box

• How to import the dialog class and interface

• How to build and show the dialog box

• The Task History app

• The XML for the layouts

Module 16 How to work with app widgets

• An introduction to app widgets

• A Home screen that has app widgets

• How to remove app widgets

• How to add app widgets

• How to create app widgets

• How to create the layout

• How to modify the database class

• How to create the provider class

• How to configure an app widget

• How to register an app widget

• How to test an app widget

Module 17 How to deploy an app

• An introduction to distribution and monetization

• How distribution works

• How monetization works

• How to create a release build

• How to prepare an app for release

• How to create the signed APK file

• How to distribute directly to the user

• How to distribute via a website

• How distribute via email

• How to publish on Google Play

• How to set up a publisher account

• How to use the Developer Console to publish an app

• How to view the listing for an app

Module 18 How to work with locations and maps

• An introduction to locations and maps

• The user interface for the Run Tracker app

• An introduction to determining location

• An introduction to maps

• An introduction to the Google Maps Android API

• How to configure the Google Maps Android API v2

• How to create a new Google Maps project

• How to add Google Play services to an existing project

• How to get a Google Maps API key

• How to set permissions and features

• How to work with locations

• How to connect to Google Play services

• How to get the current location

• How to handle a failed connection

• How to get location updates

• How to make sure GPS is enabled

• How to work with Google Maps

• How to add a map fragment to a layout

• How to display a map

• How to zoom in on a location

• How to add markers

• How to add lines

• The Run Tracker app

• The activity_run_map layout

• The RunMapActivity class

• The RunTrackerService class