Staying up to date with new versions of mobile platforms can be a challenge, and few are more challenging than Android as it is frequently updated. As of this writing, we’re up to KitKat, version 4.4, and this third edition of the text is up to date as of this review. Its target is developers familiar with Java and Android basics, although the cover material bills it as suitable for “beginner though advanced.”

This book features “recipes” presented in the format of problem then solution. Each recipe contains a cogent solution and sample code one can use immediately. Performance enhancements are covered well (using Android NDK and RenderScript). The exchange of data between devices is not slighted, nor is data persistence and the use of web services.

The book starts with a largely ignorable 36 pages of “getting started” information. Following that are seven largely useful chapters that cover graphics, user interactions, networking communications, inter-device and media interactions, persistent data, system interactivity, and, finally, working with the NDK and RenderScript.

I am particularly pleased to see Android security frequently discussed as the recipe solutions are given. For example, to prevent external apps from performing fragment injection, the authors point out that a PreferenceActivity should override the isValidFragment() in apps at SDK 19 and up (page 485). These are important real-world notes.

At over 700 pages, this is a hefty physical volume, and many of the pages are taken up by code. At first glance, I was dismayed to see that the only immediately obvious way to obtain an electronic version was to pay the publishers an additional fee or to purchase the Kindle edition. Fortunately, a quick search of the publisher’s site revealed downloadable code for all of the recipes (http://www.apress.com/downloadable/download/sample/sample_id/1148/).

The main benefit of this excellent text is its updating to current Android versions. The main competition should also be perused [1,2,3], since even though not updated to KitKat, these books contain much useful material and slightly differing approaches to development.

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