Computer programming has undergone transformations since its inception. At the very beginning, programming was limited to the underlying machine code, followed by macro languages as assemblers. In the late 1960s and on, high-level programming languages were introduced. High-level languages were either general, such as PL/1, Pascal, or C, or were targeted for certain application domains, such as Fortran for mathematical programming, Lisp for artificial intelligence, and Snobol for string processing. These procedural languages were used until the early 1990s when object-oriented technologies were introduced. After that, general languages such as C++, C#, and Java became the norm. The targeted languages shifted paradigms from special applications to specific hardware platforms, such as those for cell phones. It is within this context that the current text was written.

Instead of the standard “Hello World” application taught in programming courses, the first chapter of this book introduces a simple geographical quiz application for the purposes of showing what overhead requirements there are for creating a basic phone application. Extensible Markup Language (XML) created the means for storing parameters for data structures and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) used in a variety of web-based services. It also has the advantage of supporting Unicode, which facilitates Java programming in Unicode. As such, a good integrated development environment (IDE) will help the programmer complete the necessary coding. The author recommends Eclipse with the built-in Android Lint debugger. In chapter 8, the author continues the discussion of XML and describes different XML attributes. There, he provides further details on how to create the best screen display of various views of data.

Cellphone programming concentrates on multimedia display, and this book presents the material in that fashion. Chapter 8 creates user interfaces with layouts, and chapter 11 concentrates on ViewPager technology; chapters 7, 9, 10, and 14 support this with the discussion of fragments. Chapters 19 and 20 focus on the built-in camera and describe how to take pictures, handle the viewfinder, and process the images.

The action bar is presented in chapter 16. It is usually anchored to the top of the screen and typically is available throughout the applications. The search function, therefore, can be visible within most applications. It allows for easier navigation to apps and the switching between apps.

Advanced programming technology is found in the latter chapters of the book. XML drawables are found in chapter 25. The hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) is described in chapter 26, and is explained further in chapter 31, on browsing. Background tasks are covered in the same chapter as background services (chapter 29). Handler threads are discussed in chapter 27, with broadcasting intents in chapter 30. Tracking the user’s location (chapter 33), interacting with a database (chapter 34) and using maps (chapter 36) demonstrate the plethora of technologies that accompany Android programming.

With 37 chapters, this book provides the breadth and depth of programming knowledge one needs to develop advanced apps for an Android-based cellphone using the Java language.

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