Android 2: Introduction to the Technology Kirk Scott 1

1.1 General Android Background 1.2 Development Software 1.3 Getting Started 1.4 Summary 2

1.1 General Android Background 3

The Android platform belongs to Google The development environment is non- proprietary (no need to pay) It is supported by the Open Handset Alliance (OHA)—cell phone manufacturers Many different companies cooperate to support Android 4

What Kinds of Companies Are Involved? Hardware device manufacturers Mobile service providers Android/Google, which provides the basic software operating and development environments Independent app developers marketing through the app store or other places 5

The platform is based on: A widely-known object-oriented language, Java A tested software development environment, Eclipse 6

Non-Proprietary Android is based on open source licensing Developers do not have to pay fees to use the development tool kit They do not have to pay fees on the apps developed with it 7

Another useful aspect of the development environment: It comes with an emulator for handheld devices You can develop and test on this software emulator You can develop and test apps even if you don’t have a cell phone or tablet computer available 8

Versions Android has had a succession of versions These are some of the more recent ones: 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich , Jellybean 4.4, KitKat (They’ve all been named after sweets) 9

1.2 Development Software and Hardware 10

To develop for Android you need to have a desktop or laptop computer On it you download and install two pieces of software: The Java JDK (Standard Edition, SE) The Android Development Toolkit (ADT) bundle 11

The ADT bundle includes Eclipse, a programming environment We are not going to be programming However, we still need the development environment in order to arrange for content, resources, for the sample app 12

Eventually you will want a physical device to run the app on The physical device that I have is a Nexus 7 running Android version Google Play for Education has standardized on the Nexus 7 device 13

Downloads Remember, the first piece of software you need on your development machine is Java The entry point for downloading Java is On that Web page there is a link for downloads Under that heading you can find Java for developers 14

You need to find the right SDK for your system and install it before installing the Android tools These overheads will not give detailed instructions If you have downloaded and installed software before, you will be familiar with the process 15

If you are not familiar, you will want to get help from someone who is For reference purposes, a screen shot of the download page is shown on the following overhead (Download Java, not NetBeans) 16

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The entry point for Android is On this Web page you’ll find a link for developers or you can go directly to developer.android.com developer.android.com Find the ADT bundle (The Android SDK) which is right for your system and install it For the time being, just accept the defaults, whatever they might be 18

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The Android Web Site Virtually anything you might want to know about Android can be found at the developer’s Web site It includes both general and technical information The problem is too much information The overheads for this seminar are basically a small selection from the contents of the Web site 20

1.3 Getting Started 21

The following overheads assume that Java and the ADT bundle are installed on your system Once the ADT is installed, your entry point for working with the sample app will be Eclipse 22

The Eclipse Interface A screenshot of the Eclipse interface is shown on the following overhead Android things are included in the toolbar and menu when you successfully install Eclipse 23

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This will be the starting point for the next set of overheads That set of overheads will go over the components of an app in general It will show how to locate those components in the Eclipse environment 25

It will cover the topic of importing the framework code for the sample app into the environment It will then discuss how to include specific resources in the framework 26

1.4 Summary These are the most important points of this set of overheads: 1. The goal is not to turn you into a programmer or Android developer 2. The goal is to provide enough background to create a simple educational app without programming knowledge 3. This still requires understanding of the development environment 27

In order to do this it is necessary to install the following pieces of software: 1. Java 2. The Android ADT bundle 28

The details of installation are not covered A skilled computer user (not a programmer) who is accustomed to software installation can install the software by following the directions 29

Once the software is installed: 1. Eclipse is the editor/command central for working with Android apps at the development level 2. In particular, this is where you can import the sample framework app to, and where you can add resources 3. Eclipse also allows you to keep the software installation up-to-date 4. And Eclipse supports emulation 30

Finally, what we will eventually see: Out of the Eclipse interface it is possible to directly install an app from the development machine onto a tablet computer A laptop with the development software installed is available A demo tablet is available that an app can be transferred to from the development laptop 31

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