Android Programming... All aboard! Last Call!

Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems is starting tomorrow so anyone interested in learning should jump on board.  The course has the first three lectures available already at this link.  The first lecture is a very well done overview of the Android system. The next two lectures are about the Android Development Kit. Even if you are a 'seasoned developer' I recommend viewing the lectures multiple times because each time you view them the context in your brain will find something new to think about and subsequently you will learn something new each time. In addition the presenter quotes some links for additional information that should be followed.

The second and third lectures are about the Integrated Development Environment.  As of today the first assignments are not available but all of the examples are up on Github. What is Github? Github is a Concurrent Version System that allows a user to post files that can be used by others without interfering with changes made by other users. It might seem confusing as to why you want to have such a system but it will become clear when you want to have multiple people working on multiple files regarding a project. For example, you could have a graphic designer working on pictures for icons, a lawyer working on an End Use Agreement, one programmer working on animations, one graphic designer doing drawings and so on.  With a Concurrent Version System  they all work separately and then when they are happy with their updates they post their changes where everybody else gets them.  Get it? Git Hub! Here is a tutorial on using it.  Don't let it scare you because it is a lot easier than it looks.  All you need to know at first is how to create an account, find the repository you are interested in and download the files you are interested in. Easy Peasy!

The next issue are the links that the presenter flashes on the screen. These links are very important and you should stop the video and open the link to Getting Started  and bookmark it because it is the first door to a huge area of help and understanding about programming in Android.  The next link of importance is the link to a YouTube video about the Dalvik system as used by the Android Operating system. For the uninitiated it will be 'Gobbly Geek Gook' but it is a very good video to sit back and count how many sentences are in English and how many you think are in Icelandic.  They are all in English but not many people know what a 'nop' is.  The Dalvik Virtual Machine is slated to be replaced with the Android Run Time in the near future but you can rest assured that it will operate based on the same basic constraints that drove the development of the Dalvik system.  In short when the a new YouTube video comes out explaining the Android Run Time you will still swear that the presenter has switched to speaking in Icelandic! 'Nop' á íslensku er það sama og á ensku. ('Nop' in Icelandic is the same as it is in English. NOP is a programming acronym for No Operation.

Here is a link to the Video on the Dalvik Virtual Machine Internals.