Android Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide is an introductory Android book for programmers with Java experience.

Based on Big Nerd Ranch's popular Android Bootcamp course, this guide will lead you through the wilderness using hands-on example apps combined with clear explanations of key concepts and APIs. This book focuses on practical techniques for developing apps compatible with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and up, including coverage of Lollipop and material design.

Write and run code every step of the way, creating apps that integrate with other Android apps, download and display pictures from the web, play sounds, and more. Each chapter and app has been designed and tested to provide the knowledge and experience you need to get started in Android development.

Big Nerd Ranch specializes in developing and designing innovative applications for clients around the world. Our experts teach others through our books, bootcamps, and onsite training. Whether it's Android, iOS, Ruby and Ruby on Rails, Cocoa, Mac OS X, JavaScript, HTML5 or UX/UI, we've got you covered.

The Android team is constantly improving and updating Android Studio and other tools. As a result, some of the instructions we provide in the book are no longer correct. You can find an addendum addressing breaking changes at:

https://github.com/bignerdranch/AndroidCourseResources/raw/master/2ndEdition/Errata/2eAddendum.pdf.

 

Bill Phillips, a software engineer and instructor at Big Nerd Ranch, cowrote and taught the original Big Nerd Ranch Android bootcamp, as well as the first edition of this book. Since then he has been teaching, writing blog posts, reading various kinds of literature, writing and playing music, and working on books.

Chris Stewart is the director of the Android team at Big Nerd Ranch, where he is also a senior Android bootcamp instructor. He is dedicated to constant improvement and works to perfect his craft as much as possible. When not in front of a computer, Chris enjoys hiking and traveling.

Brian Hardy is director of iOS and Cocoa engineering at Big Nerd Ranch. He was one of the first Android bootcamp instructors and has worked with many clients to develop high quality mobile applications for Android and iOS. When not working with his development team to build better software or hacking on his latest pet project, Brian enjoys spending time with friends and family X usually around the grill.

Kristin Marsicano is an Android developer and senior instructor at Big Nerd Ranch. Always an educator at heart, she is passionate about learning, software development, and the intersection of the two. When she is not developing apps or sharing her love of Android in the classroom, you can find Kristin cooking for her growing family, doing yoga, or learning something new.

0. Learning Android
1. Your First Android Application
2. Android and ModelViewController
3. The Activity Lifecycle
4. Debugging Android Apps
5. Your Second Activity
6. Android SDK Versions and Compatibility
7. UI Fragments and the Fragment Manager
8. Creating User Interfaces with Layouts and Widgets
9. Displaying Lists with ListFragment
10. Using Fragment Arguments
11. Using ViewPager
12. Dialogs
13. Audio Playback Using MediaPlayer
14. Retained Fragments
15. Localization
16. The Action Bar
17. Saving and Loading Local Files
18. Context Menus and Contextual Action Mode
19. Camera I: Viewfinder
20. Camera II: Taking Pictures and Handling Images
21. Implicit Intents
22. TwoPane MasterDetail Interfaces
23. More About Intents and Tasks
24. Styles And Includes
25. XML Drawables And 9Patches
26. HTTP & Background Tasks
27. Loopers, Handlers, and HandlerThread
28. Search
29. Background Services
30. Broadcast Intents
31. Browsing The Web & WebView
32. Custom Views and Touch Events
33. Tracking the Device’s Location
34. Local Databases with SQLite
35. Loading Asynchronous Data With Loaders
36. Using Maps
37. Property Animation
38. Afterword