Android-Fu: Awesome Apps for Ice Cream Sandwich and Beyond

Attendee prerequisites for this tutorial are listed below.

Come and learn how to build apps for Ice Cream Sandwich (and beyond!) This workshop is for existing object-oriented programmers, but you don’t necessarily need to know Java. (we’ll teach you just enough to be dangerous). Learn the Android SDK, how to be efficient in Eclipse and everything you need to know to pretend you’re a UX and Interaction Design guru.

Existing programmers of almost any language will learn the ins and outs, philosophies and ideologies, loopholes and drawbacks and quirks (and there are many) of the Android Ice Cream Sandwich platform. Attendees will come away confident with the skills to build an application for Android that rivals apps for that other phone platform in usability and look. You’ll come away with a functional app that looks pretty and works great on the latest phones and tablets.

Tiny computers in our pocket are part of the glorious reality that we live in! Build apps and conquer the world. This session is not 100% programming, it’s 50/50 UX and programming – and the programming we work on is going to give you a taste of what you can do and why you should do it, not dive into every facet of the Android SDK (we don’t have time for that!)

Topics covered will include:

• Why, as a programmer, you need to understand interaction design when building for mobile
• The core features, capabilities and limitations of the Java Android SDK (Ice Cream Sandwich Android-Fu)
• Java, and why it doesn’t suck on Android
• Resource constraints, and how to remember that they exist on a TINY FREAKIN’ COMPUTER

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TUTORIAL PREREQUISITES
If you want to do the tutorial work in your usual working environment, you will need to follow the following steps BEFORE you attend the tutorial. Time is tight, and we don’t have enough time to wait for people to download SDK components!

1. Install the SDK:
   You’ll need to follow the Android Developer Guides’ instructions for installing the SDK. Versions for x86 Linux, Mac OS X and Windows can be found at: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html. For Unixy people, I suggest installing under /opt or $HOME/opt.
2. Install Eclipse:
   We will be using the Eclipse IDE for our demos during the tutorial. You can use other code editors, but Eclipse contains the only way to visually assemble user interfaces in Android. For Windows and Mac users, you can download Eclipse (we suggest the Classic version) from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/.
3. Install the Android Development Tools for Eclipse:
   The instructions for doing so can be found at http://developer.android.com/sdk/eclipse-adt.html#installing.
4. Install an Android Platform:
   Our code is tested against Android version 4.0.3 (SDK Platform 4.0.3, API 15), so you will need to install that platform at least. Instructions for this can be found at: http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html#AddingComponents.
5. Install git:
   Some code samples will be stored in a public git repository—if you want to follow along with these, you’ll need a git client installed.
6. Bring pens and paper!

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