20/12/2012

Android app programming just became accessible - I think

It's no secret that the future of PCs is in tablet format. Android, iPad, iPad Mini to name just a few. As well as a few quid being made by Google, Apple et al, there's also been a few millionaires created from the cottage industry of app-making. Now, you can do it, too.  Possibly...

[caption id="attachment_18152" align="aligncenter" width="646"]android historical version distribution Apparently, this shows Android historical version distribution - wikimedia commons[/caption]

An Android dev environment is not a corner shop for robots in Weatherfield


Over on Linux.com, Juliet Kemp has begun a series of articles taking us newbies through the concept of Android programming. I say us. She starting talking about a "dev environment" and I thought she meant the corner shop on Coronation Street.

Apparently not, as I then thought we'd taken a trip into Hansel and Gretel land. That used to scare the shit out of me when I was a kid. They were named Grimm for a reason, those German brothers.

Any road up, Juliet was apparently advising us what Android platforms were best to write apps programs for. Well, who though up stupid fecking names like "Gingerbread", "Ice Cream Sandwich" and fecking "Jelly Bean", by jingo!?

Apparently, the pretty little Wikimedia graph above shows how many users are using what Android platforms and the history of take up. So don't start writing for Jelly Bean just yet. Write your apps in Ice Cream Sandwich.

So perhaps this is not for me. And, as she says "it's just fun to write something you can run on your own phone", I guess there's little chance of a riveting date in The Rovers, either.

The only thing I run on my phone is "up large bills." Yep, think about it. But I'm sure there's someone out there who could write the next Angry Birds. I've had a few of them, especially when I've shown them the letter from the clinic.

Start writing Android apps for Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich


But apparently, if you start writing for the 2.3 or 4.0 versions in the Android market, the future generations such as the 4.2 Jelly Bean will be compatible. But not all are backward compatible.

So don't write for Jelly Bean thinking your Gingerbread man's gonna get it. He won't. Totally like I don't get this whole concept, obviously. But I'm sure there'll be tech geeks out there dying to have a crack at writing their own apps for Android.

There is a link through the article where you can download the Android bundle. Thought we were off to Rainbow for a minute. You can then use the SDK with a JDK 6 (not just JRE). You can then use Eclipse or another IDE.

It's at this point I was convinced that I'd started reading an article in English, but then hadn't got a fecking clue what language we were speaking now. So I gave up.

But if you fancy a crack at writing an Android app, aren't scared of the Brothers Grimm and can talk Linux-speak, then head on over to part one of Juliet Kemp's Android Programming for Beginners.  Erm, good luck with that...




Have Your Say:

  • Is it just me being totally thick or does anyone else struggle with geek-speak?

  • What's your favourite Android app? Mine's Evernote, which in itself is probably a little bit sad...

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