Dear Mark, Thanks for the answer. As I understand, it seems that learning will be simpler if I make up an app. idea and then try to learn what is required to build it.
I will try to get the books suggested if I need further info. Regards, UE. On Sat, May 1, 2010 at 11:30 PM, Mark Murphy <mmur...@commonsware.com>wrote: > Ubuntu Explorer wrote: > > I have more or less the same question. The amount of detail in the API > > is overwhelming for me to choose what is really required for my app. Are > > there specific areas we can focus on that can help us ramp up quickly. > > That is impossible to answer in the abstract. A 3D first-person shooter > is very different from a PDF viewer, which is very different from a > social networking client, which is very different from a tip calculator. > The "specific areas [you] can focus on that can help [you] ramp up > quickly" will vary by what you are building. > > At the risk of sounding self-serving, if you find the documentation > overwhelming, perhaps you need different documentation: > > http://wiki.andmob.org/books > > (in the interests of full disclosure, I wrote some of those) > > > On Sat, May 1, 2010 at 4:27 PM, Daniel Favela <dfav...@gmail.com > > First question: I've done the Hello World and notepad tutorials, as > > well as run through the quick tutorial > > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6ObTqIiYfE>on youtube by Dan > > Morril. I've also read a bit of the Android fundamentals > > materials. Is this enough experience to make an application like > > the one I'll describe below? > > > > If not, what do you think I should read or try next? If so, > > > > The application I have in mind will be a counter triggered by > > users. A user will add themselves to the count, remove themselves > > from the count, and view the count. > > > > When a user adds or removes themself to the count... > > - if possible, this will update the count on other instances for > > other users/devices > > > > That's my first step for now. The UI will be a ListView showing the > > counts that users have added themselves to (once I create the means > > to have one count, I will easily be able to scale the app to have > > "n" counts). There will be a button to add and remove the user. > > > > Sounds reasonable, right? Please let me know if this sounds > > difficult, especially where the multi-device communication (in > > updating the counter) is concerned. Know of a library that I'll > > have to use, or have some general advice for this? Tell me! :) > > IMHO, you're looking at your problem backwards. > > Your application requires a server, from your description. Focus on > getting the server right first: > > -- how are you planning on sending data to the server? (HTTP via a > REST-style API? XMPP? SMTP? something else?) > > -- where and how are you storing your counts? (SQLite? MySQL? Oracle? > Flat file? memcached? Redis? something else?) > > -- how are you determining who sees what count? (everybody sees > everybody's? something else?) > > -- how are you planning on distributing updates from the server? > (polling by the clients? WebSockets with Comet? SMS? something else?) > > -- what data format will you be using for all of this? (XML? JSON? YAML? > binary payloads via Protocol Buffers? binary payloads via Thrift? > something else?) > > The only part of Android that really comes into play when thinking about > your server are the communication protocols and payloads to/from the > server. In the end, Android can handle just about anything, but there is > more work involved with some compared to others. However, it may be that > you are still better off choosing something that you're already > comfortable with, even if it makes the Android side a bit more complex, > just to make your server work simpler. > > Once you have the server more or less working -- perhaps via a client > technology you are already comfortable with -- then tackle the Android > client. As you say, the client side should not be terribly difficult, > assuming you have a well-designed server. > > IMHO, the majority of your complexity is with the server. The only > reason that would not be the case is if you're going to try to graft > your design onto an existing engine (e.g., you'll use the status.net > microblogging server and distribute count data via "tweets"). > > -- > Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) > http://commonsware.com | http://github.com/commonsguy > http://commonsware.com/blog | http://twitter.com/commonsguy > > _Beginning Android 2_ from Apress Now Available! > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Android Beginners" group. > > NEW! Try asking and tagging your question on Stack Overflow at > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/android > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > android-beginners+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<android-beginners%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/android-beginners?hl=en > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Beginners" group. NEW! Try asking and tagging your question on Stack Overflow at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/android To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-beginners+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-beginners?hl=en
