Additional information
by Bill Tait (Author)
This book is aimed at starters. It is an introduction to programming. It is also an introduction to Java. And it is an introduction to Android Studio, which is now the only Android development package supported by Google. In fact, it is an introduction to the complete process of Android mobile development, from no knowledge of programming to the publication of an app on the Google Play Store. This is a ball game called Getball and is available for free download to illustrate the end product. The treatment is selective. Learning to program is not easy, so the book is designed to help new programmers by covering only Java and avoiding the need to learn much about the xml files used by Android to create static user interfaces. It is just Java. It is also selective in developing only graphics apps and games, which more easily hold the interest of novice programmers. It is just graphics. And it is selective in focusing on coding rather than Java theory. The apps are developed in increments so each builds on the previous one. This allows the theory to be introduced gradually and only as and when required. So it is mainly code. You will learn to read code and understand it. You will learn to write code and to customize each app in some way to test your understanding. Then you should be able to publish your own versions of the apps on the Google Play Store.
Author Biography
Bill Tait is a physicist with a PhD in Nuclear Physics but he has spent most of his career teaching computing to undergraduates. He has published one other book on Radiation Detection and another entitled Start Programming with JavaScript. He has published educational software as well as Android apps. He also has an interest in website design and online learning, on which subject he has published a number of research papers.
