Introduction to Android Application Development: Android Essentials (4th Edition)

Praise forIntroduction to Android™ Application Development, Fourth Edition

“Introduction to Android Application Development, Fourth Edition is a phenomenal read and allows those interested in Android development to be brought up to speed and developing apps with minimal fuss. Everything from an introduction to the Android ecosystem and setting up a development environment to creating and publishing Android applications is covered in depth and with technical expertise. Those who crave even more from the book will be treated to a feast of useful links at the end of each chapter to help guide them on and expand their new-found knowledge base.”

–Philip Dutson, UX and Mobile Developer for ICON Health & Fitness

“With this edition, you won’t find a more solid and comprehensive introduction to Android programming. Even if you already have another Android book, Introduction to Android App Development makes a good second reference.”

–Douglas Jones, Senior Software Engineer, Fullpower Technologies

“Introduction to Android Application Development, Fourth Edition is an important update to this invaluable reference for new and seasoned Android developers. It brings the latest up-to-date information about the newest releases of Android, showing you how to keep your application fresh on yesterday’s, today’s, and tomorrow’s Android devices.”

–Ray Rischpater, Senior Software Engineer, Microsoft

Joseph Annuzzi, Jr., is a freelance software architect, graphic artist, writer, and technical reviewer. He usually can be found mastering the Android platform, implementing cutting-edge HTML5 capabilities, leveraging various cloud technologies, speaking in different programming languages, working with diverse frameworks, integrating with various social APIs, tinkering with peer-to-peer, cryptography, and computer vision algorithms, or creating stunningly realistic 3D renders. He is always on the lookout for disruptive Internet and mobile technologies and has multiple patent applications in process. He graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a B.S. in Managerial Economics and a minor in Computer Science and lives where much of the action is, Silicon Valley. When he is not working with technology, he has been known to lounge in the sun on the beaches of the Black Sea with international movie stars; he has trekked through the Bavarian forest in winter, has immersed himself in the culture of the Italian Mediterranean, and has narrowly escaped the wrath of an organized crime ring in Eastern Europe after his taxi dropped him off in front of the bank ATM they were liquidating. He also lives an active and healthy lifestyle, designs and performs custom fitness training routines to stay in shape, and adores his loyal Beagle, Cleopatra.

Lauren Darcey is responsible for the technical leadership and direction of a small software company specializing in mobile technologies, including Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Palm Pre, BREW, and J2ME, and consulting services. With more than two decades of experience in professional software production, Lauren is a recognized authority in application architecture and the development of commercial-grade mobile applications. Lauren received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She spends her copious free time traveling the world with her geeky mobile-minded husband and is an avid nature photographer. Her work has been published in books and newspapers around the world. In South Africa, she dove with 4-meter-long great white sharks and got stuck between a herd of rampaging hippopotami and an irritated bull elephant. She’s been attacked by monkeys in Japan, gotten stuck in a ravine with two hungry lions in Kenya, gotten thirsty in Egypt, narrowly avoided a coup d état in Thailand, geocached her way through the Swiss Alps, drank her way through the beer halls of Germany, slept in the crumbling castles of Europe, and gotten her tongue stuck to an iceberg in Iceland (while being watched by a herd of suspicious wild reindeer).

Shane Conder has extensive development experience and has focused his attention on mobile and embedded development for the past decade. He has designed and developed many commercial applications for Android, iOS, BREW, BlackBerry, J2ME, Palm, and Windows Mobile—some of which have been installed on millions of phones worldwide. Shane has written extensively about the mobile industry and evaluated mobile development platforms on his tech blogs and is well known within the blogosphere. Shane received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California. A self-admitted gadget freak, Shane always has the latest smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device. He can often be found fiddling with the latest technologies, such as cloud services and mobile platforms, and other exciting, state-of-the-art technologies that activate the creative part of his brain. He also enjoys traveling the world with his geeky wife, even if she did make him dive with 4-meter-long great white sharks and almost get eaten by a lion in Kenya. He admits that he has to take at least two phones with him when backpacking—even though there is no coverage—and that he snickered and whipped out his Android phone to take a picture when Laurie got her tongue stuck to that iceberg in Iceland, and that he is catching on that he should be writing his own bio.