Learn Java for Android Development

I purchased this book a couple of months ago and have found it to be an excellently written manual for learning Java development in order to begin learning Android development. I will admit I thought it would focus a bit more on the Android end of things, however that does not, in my opinion, dimnish its usefulness or value to have focused on Java development with an eye to preparation for Android development. Learn Java for Android Development, while written well and packed with the info you'll need, is a throwback in writing style to technical manuals of yore. While I learn best, personally, from this type of style, I did want to drop a line for those who prefer more conversational learning with more "everything is spelled out plainly, you can eat for the evening"-type writing, that this is written as a much more "you are a smart guy, let me provide everything you need and explain how to fish"-type book. As such, I found it extremely useful as a lower-skilled/somewhat-newer programmer to have, and take my understanding of development (and Java) to a level I feel I can begin learning and developing my Android development skills. Just don't go in expecting a "Head First" kind of book, and knowing what the aim of the book is (to provide Java development skills for learning Android development subsequently). In its actual target area, it is a great success.

Other than some brief mentions of Android, this is a basic text book on Java and does little to tie it into Android policies and strategy for using Java. For example, I don't recall seeing any example code using Android specific APIs. Look elsewhere for a beginners introduction to abstract classes and methods. It is covered only a few pages, and too terse for a beginner comprehend. Consider an example (Listing 3-22) that introduces extending a class with no explanation of the syntax. Too much is left for the beginner to figure out from studying the listing. Since this is fundamental to any large system (like Android), it lays a poor foundation for the rest of the book.

This is an acceptable book to use for learning Java for an experienced programmer. Notes: * The approach is to throw concept after concept at the reader. * Is not Android-specific. This book is about the Java language and fundamental frameworks. Pros: * Contains a lot of material * Author knows his subject well Cons: * Does not build up the reader's knowledge in a systematic, organized way. * Does not spend time on teaching concepts behind the language and framework features being discussed. nor putting them in context. * Could have been better targeted to Android development. E.g., there are several call-outs that discuss features specific to Java version 5... but what versions of Java are commonly available on Andriod devices? It might have been better to also let us know, e.g., which Java versions were associated with which versions of Android.

Despite some people finding this book misleading, I found this book to be very helpful. This book is useful for all people who want to get into coding, however this book seems to be more useful to people who already have a background in a programming language. This book is very resourceful and is a great complement to anyone trying to get involved with android development. I would like to emphasize "complement." In the book description it specifically states this is not specifically for android development, but it sure is a great reference guide to the fundamental language one will develop their applications with! Awesome Job!!!!

I studied this book and feeling good about it. specially the Tips given in this book is excellent. Indeed, Good book.

Not for beginners to say the least, this book is a complex introduction to Java and barely mentions anything specific about Android. The only thing you will learn is that he advises you that Android uses Eclipse. That aside, the links to his web site are invalid and you cannot donwload the extra chapters or source code. Very sad book. You are better off getting a book which teaches raw java in a structured manner.

I recently was required to write some Android applications for my company and as such needed to brush up on Java. I think the last time that I did this was at university in CS I and II; anyway, I have found this book to be extremely helpful and complete. There have been some reviews that state this book is 'misleading'; which is hard to understand since the title of the book clearly states that this is a book that focuses on Java so that you may do Android development later. The author is obviously very knowledgeable about the subject matter and expresses ideas in a very clear way. I keep this book with me whenever I am doing any Android development mostly as a reference. I did work through the book when I first bought it from cover-to-cover as a refresher and found it to be enormously helpful. Highly recommend for anyone that is going to be doing any serious Java development, whether it be Android or otherwise. You Rock, JavaJeff!

I was going to write a long detailed review but I think all the positive comments cover it very well. As a 10 year programmer in Mainframe and Microsoft languages I am new to Java and the Mobile development environment (which I'm eager to dive into). I'm the type of person who likes to deep dive into those subjects I love. i.e. programming languages which are well thought out (hence my desire to move away from Microsoft). I digress. I've always been a big fan of Wrox and Apress books. I have to say that this book delivers exactly what it promises. It is packed full of knowledge for those who want it. A must have in my opinion if this is the sort of thing you want to get into. Peace out and happy coding.

This book would have got a better review from me if it's title was "Learn Java the old console way", because it has nothing to do with Android programming: The very basic Android class "Activity" is not even mentioned in the index! All examples I looked at brought me 30 years ago, when programming was all about scanf's printf's and sequential programming. An absolute beginner in programming will get a very bad start of what modern programming is all about: Event driven programming. Frankly, the word "Android" should be removed from the title. Not one example in the book will work on my Toshiba Android tablet. Sure, if I read the book, I will learn a few things on Java, but I'll look elsewhere, I want a book with real Android world example.

As described

Within the first few pages, the author states that "this book largely discusses APIs that are common to Java SE and Android. However, it diverges from this practice in Chapter 9, where I use the Swing toolkit [..] Android does not support Swing". That really sums up this book. If the goal is to teach me Java for Android Development, why is the author even mentioning things that Android doesn't support! I suspect the book is just a rehashing of one of the author's general Java books, with 'Android' tacked onto the title for marketing purposes. Only the first example (4 pages worth) even uses Eclipse, and that is compiled to run on the desktop. All the rest of the book uses the JDK stuff, and doesn't mention Android at all, as far as I can see. This may well be a good book to learn Java with, but I can't see how, at the end of it, you'd have any knowledge of Android. The search for a decent Android beginners book that doesn't assume any previous Java knowledge continues..

Don't be over ambitious by the title.. This is just another Java SE book...The author has not delivered any specific implementation details within Android framework.. The examples still demonstrated by use of Java SE type explanations.. The content is useful for any Java programmer , even for beginner but the title is aimed just for marketing hence I only like to give 3 stars. Code samples are too long for a beginner . I recommend you THE COMPLETE REFERENCE JAVA BY HERBERT SCHIDT Java The Complete Reference, Seventh Edition (Osborne Complete Reference Series) over this book as this gives you clear intuitive code examples. Do not be discourage because of number of pages. I found best explanation about Enums in THE COMPLETE REFERENCE JAVA BY HERBERT SCHIDT as my favourite part.

Misleading by its title, I'd give this book -10 stars... Having a read through it and the way complex Java concepts are gracefully and carefully explained, I can rate it 4 stars. It's actually a much better Java manual than many other popular ones out there. I just don't get the title...