Database Users

want to learn how to do stuff

so i would like to learn how to do things for my phone and possibly help with the dev community. but i know practically nothing about linux or how to do anything useful. i am looking for links or other useful information to help me get started. i have lots of time on my hands and learn pretty quick. i assume i would start with the sdk (would i use the 1.5 one since thats what our phones are currently running on, or is the 2.0 out yet? and would i try from there), but other than that have no idea what else would be useful.
so.... yeah. helpful link to good info or any good e books, or anything like that that will get me going. thanks in advance

i would use the newest SDK, 2.0.1, and make sure that it will function on the emulators for both 1.5 and 2.0.1, frankly if you arent already proficient with linux or java, this wont be a easy thing to get into. However I WILL point out how threads like this are terribly pointless... you arent helping anyone out, and frankly you're asking for information that is quite available.

thanks for nothing. other than making me feel stupid.

Some help, maybe.
ix3u said:
thanks for nothing. other than making me feel stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been spending quite a bit of time on the threads here, I too am in search of more information specific to the android. I don't know that I'll ever be able to contribute too much to the devs, but at least I can understand my phone better, and help out with answering questions on the forums.
I would think that starting with something like creating a theme would be a good place to start, and would get you a little more familiar with the ways of android. Then I would move up into other things, and before you know it you will be much more proficient. It's all about starting somewhere. (and having a good backup)
Here's some posts / links that I have collected that i thought might aid me when i create some time to start the same endeavor...
* Ratcom's guide to creating Theme's
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=574167
* An Android Developers Guide (with tutorials, and tons of info)
http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html
* How-to's regarding android application development:
http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/topics/guides.aspx
* Tutorials and exercises
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-11-19-n27.html
I haven't looked at most of those, but hopefully they will be a good start. I look forward to the day when I start looking at them too.
Hopefully that's helpful, it's all I can offer.
Good luck, and godspeed
-AndyS-

thanks., that is more like what i was looking for

jmhalder said:
i would use the newest SDK, 2.0.1, and make sure that it will function on the emulators for both 1.5 and 2.0.1, frankly if you arent already proficient with linux or java, this wont be a easy thing to get into. However I WILL point out how threads like this are terribly pointless... you arent helping anyone out, and frankly you're asking for information that is quite available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm. So much for helping someone out who at least has the desire to learn and grow to be more. Communist much? or just a Liberal Democrat? I applaud him for trying. Who knows more about where to get the information other than XDA? Hell a google search on this stuff turns up mostly useless garbage anyways. Why spend hours digging it up when someone else may know a good resource.

Lets refrain from flames/rebuttals please.

I have a few FAQ's and tutorials on my site. Also checking things like my release notes and mind map (linked in v1.0 release) will help. There aren't any full on tutorials but it's just a good place for general info.
Check my sig.

As flipz stated, there's no good centralized place for organized information. The best advice is truly to search this site, and search with google. It's an uphill battle getting that base of knowledge built up to get you going. I know, I'm still working my way up the hill. I thought about putting a site together to organize and share information but that would take away too much from what little time I have to spend on rom developement.
I doub't that is really the answer you were hoping to get but unfortunately thats the grim reality of things. Perhaps someone with a lot more free time than I, will put together a site of their own and compile and organize all kinds of good information in a central place. It would truly be a boon to the android community.

obelisk79 said:
As flipz stated, there's no good centralized place for organized information. The best advice is truly to search this site, and search with google. It's an uphill battle getting that base of knowledge built up to get you going. I know, I'm still working my way up the hill. I thought about putting a site together to organize and share information but that would take away too much from what little time I have to spend on rom developement.
I doub't that is really the answer you were hoping to get but unfortunately thats the grim reality of things. Perhaps someone with a lot more free time than I, will put together a site of their own and compile and organize all kinds of good information in a central place. It would truly be a boon to the android community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be happy to bring some writers on to my site or to host some tutorials or anything that others have written. My job offers me a lot of flexibility and free time, however like you I am spending all of it developing right now. This kitchen is kicking my butt.
Edit: We'll see if I get any hits. http://geekfor.me/news/wanted-writers-for-faq-tutorial-help/

I may be able to help. My freetime seems to come and go, but I’ve always been pretty good at making How-To’s.
What format would be best?
html,pdf,etc…

ix3u said:
so i would like to learn how to do things for my phone and possibly help with the dev community. but i know practically nothing about linux or how to do anything useful. i am looking for links or other useful information to help me get started. i have lots of time on my hands and learn pretty quick. i assume i would start with the sdk (would i use the 1.5 one since thats what our phones are currently running on, or is the 2.0 out yet? and would i try from there), but other than that have no idea what else would be useful.
so.... yeah. helpful link to good info or any good e books, or anything like that that will get me going. thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good thread, thanks for starting it.
I'm in a pretty similar spot. 2 weeks ago I had zero exposure to or knowledge about Android or Linux. I'm proficient with Windows. In the last 2 weeks I've rooted, flashed RA 123, 151 & then 152. I backed up, ran an optimizer .zip file, restored, flashed fresh 1.0 and learned some very cool stuff. I'm comfortable in the terminal but I'm getting to where I'm not sure what I should or want to learn next. Also, although I've done these things easily half of it was just copying instructions from one of the fantastically helpful posts on this forum. Before I learn what to do next I'd like to understand the system better. I checked out wiki and ended up bookmarking a page that explains kernal computing, and a few others, lots of reading ahead
As a noob I have tried to learn without getting in the way too much. I'm glad you admitted your noobness and asked for some direction, you're not the only one who could use it!

obelisk79 said:
As flipz stated, there's no good centralized place for organized information. The best advice is truly to search this site, and search with google. It's an uphill battle getting that base of knowledge built up to get you going. I know, I'm still working my way up the hill. I thought about putting a site together to organize and share information but that would take away too much from what little time I have to spend on rom developement.
I doub't that is really the answer you were hoping to get but unfortunately thats the grim reality of things. Perhaps someone with a lot more free time than I, will put together a site of their own and compile and organize all kinds of good information in a central place. It would truly be a boon to the android community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like what the original replyee said but said much more tact.

I'm hoping that was a compliment in a round about way.

THIS is an amazing resource. I've stopped in there before but wasn't ready to poke around too much.
I'll see you guys/gals in the spring!

I'd like to offer some insight, but there's really not much more I could add than what's already stated and linked above. Everything you need to know can be found (usually) easily on the android developer site, or in a google search. The hard part is putting those pieces together to know what needs to be done in order to accomplish what. That's not an easy task: check out cyanogen's github projects (http://github.com/cyanogen). He's made modifications to the kernel, Android applications, core frameworks, configurations, recovery images, packaged resources/images, and more. It's not just one piece that goes into these builds.
Most of what you see around here (and this is certainly not to take away from all the great work I'm referring to, because this is just as important as everything else), are people modifying what was already done somewhere else, and making it work for their own phone. And really that's all it takes to move progress forward.
You don't have to be a linux whiz or a Java programmer to be able to make progress with your phone- you just need to understand how each particular piece works in order to make progress on that piece. If you want to make a theme, you need to know what jar or apk files contain the resources, and how to replace those images and styles. If you want to add support for the camera you need to know what linux driver it should use, and how Android expects to interact with that driver. Same for supporting accelerometer sensors, etc.
There's no definitive checklist of things you have to know before you can help development, it just depends on what what you want to help with, and your willingness to research how that particular piece works and what it would take to make the necessary changes.

maejrep,
Informative and encouraging. Thanks!

[Q] Learning Android SDK

Hi I am new to Android SDK, I know a little like creating an android project, android project structure, compiling it & testing it on a phone, but I do not understand anything in the source code. So I need to start from the basics, is this tutorial good for basics ?
http://www.cbtnuggets.com/series/219

Have a look at the official developers guides: http://d.android.com/guide/index.html
Theres really a lot of helpful guides that should teach you (almost) all basics you need to code on android.

Why should I not learn this first ?
http://www.cbtnuggets.com/series/219

Springles said:
Why should I not learn this first ?
http://www.cbtnuggets.com/series/219
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh sorry, I didn't notice the topic list further down the page. If you really have no knowledge of (object-oriantated) programming some tutorial like this would indeed be a good idea. About this one I can't tell you if this will help you, since its paid content. Looking at the topic you will get all basics you need for starting with the link i wrote above. (Also theres some videos you won't ever need using the Android SDK)
IMHO: I would not pay that much money for video tutorials without excactly knowing its worth it! (Independent reviews!)
Theres a lot of free tutorials explaining the java basics out there, if you're not in hurry I would rather read some of those. (I sadly only know some in my native language)

Well I am in a hurry, ill watch it on my friend's laptop, hehe.

Springles said:
Well I am in a hurry, ill watch it on my friend's laptop, hehe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case I would at least have a look at local courses that you could take since its always better if you can ask back for an explaination if you don't understand something. (And if you are new to programming I'm pretty sure this will happen )

Forsaken said:
(Also theres some videos you won't ever need using the Android SDK))
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me which video chapter's are not needed to learn ? http://www.cbtnuggets.com/series/219

1-19 and 28+29 should be everything you need to understand how to use the android sdk. 12 & 18 (swing) is also different on android (afaik its not swing there) even it's quite simlar to it, so depending on how specific those videos are they might be a help anyway.

Can you tell me what is the equavelent package for:
java.awt & javax.swing for android ?

Springles said:
Can you tell me what is the equavelent package for:
java.awt & javax.swing for android ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no equivalent package, as the graphical interface is completly different. I will suggest you take a look to developer.android.com under the section of activity and view:
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/activities.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/index.html

[Q] developing roms, where to start?

With the newly deodexed honeycomb I have gotten the itch to start looking into how to create/develop my own rom.
What is the best way to start learning, is there a good starting point, I have been doing some reading but it just seems so overwhelming.
I do have basic Linux knowledge and can whip up a linux VM in no time to get crackin. I have been modding my EVO for the last year so i know how to be a "user" and have tinkered with the xoom but have only scratched the surface.
So my question is just this, Where to start??
any input would be helpful.

+1!
need a little walkthrough too :S!!
and someone can say what files NEVER EDIT to not brick the xoom!!

i too would be highly interested in learning what steps to take.

bossjeeves said:
With the newly deodexed honeycomb I have gotten the itch to start looking into how to create/develop my own rom.
What is the best way to start learning, is there a good starting point, I have been doing some reading but it just seems so overwhelming.
I do have basic Linux knowledge and can whip up a linux VM in no time to get crackin. I have been modding my EVO for the last year so i know how to be a "user" and have tinkered with the xoom but have only scratched the surface.
So my question is just this, Where to start??
any input would be helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get that VM set up, and get your environment set up so you can build AOSP.
Look through the source so you know what parts of Android are found where in the tree.
Learn a little about the platform, what does what...
Basically, just get your hands dirty.

ydaraishy said:
Get that VM set up, and get your environment set up so you can build AOSP.
Look through the source so you know what parts of Android are found where in the tree.
Learn a little about the platform, what does what...
Basically, just get your hands dirty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so this is kind of what I expected for an answer but I would like a little more if you dont mind.
Like maybe a couple of links pointing in the right direction, like what does the environment need for tools etc.

ydaraishy said:
Get that VM set up, and get your environment set up so you can build AOSP.
Look through the source so you know what parts of Android are found where in the tree.
Learn a little about the platform, what does what...
Basically, just get your hands dirty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's like saying jump in a lions den and see what ticks him off. Can we get more details please? I want to get into theming and want to know the ideal OS to do it on. I was hoping on doing it in Linux but want advice from themers.

IV been playing hippie for a couple of weeks so I don't know if I missed something but, unless the full AOSP source has been released, a deodex rom will help with nothing but theming.
You can't do much to customise a ready built rom, and you would be wasting your time to try anything but the simplest of mods.
That being said, if you're happy to play with smali you might achieve a little more.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

alias_neo said:
IV been playing hippie for a couple of weeks so I don't know if I missed something but, unless the full AOSP source has been released, a deodex rom will help with nothing but theming.
You can't do much to customise a ready built rom, and you would be wasting your time to try anything but the simplest of mods.
That being said, if you're happy to play with smali you might achieve a little more.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is exactly what I am talking about here, This is kind of why I brought it up in the xoom forum, since we dont have source and we do have a deodexed rom wouldnt playing with that be a great place to start? if so like what would be the best place to start, you say play with smali, now I know I can google and get tons of answers but I am asking to explain a little more because I trust the feedback from here and I think others might benefit also

bossjeeves said:
this is exactly what I am talking about here, This is kind of why I brought it up in the xoom forum, since we dont have source and we do have a deodexed rom wouldnt playing with that be a great place to start? if so like what would be the best place to start, you say play with smali, now I know I can google and get tons of answers but I am asking to explain a little more because I trust the feedback from here and I think others might benefit also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Smali is a tool that will reverse engineer (baksmali) dalvik byte code into (barely) human readable code. If you can learn to understand this you can reverse and modify stuff with it. If i remember right, brut.all is the guy responsible, have a read around, but i warn you, its not for the feint of heart.
Macbots drool as I XOOM through the Galaxy to my hearts Desire.

bossjeeves said:
this is exactly what I am talking about here, This is kind of why I brought it up in the xoom forum, since we dont have source and we do have a deodexed rom wouldnt playing with that be a great place to start? if so like what would be the best place to start, you say play with smali, now I know I can google and get tons of answers but I am asking to explain a little more because I trust the feedback from here and I think others might benefit also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is one of the best sources I've found....... made by cyanogen himself, tonnes of info here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=667298

I did come across this link http://simply-android.wikia.com/wiki/ROM_Development
looks like something that would be a helpful start. thoughts?
ps thanks for the replys

I think the best way to learn anything is just to read a lot, and to search for any questions you have. There are a thousand ways to learn to hack, but they all require the initiative to find answers on your own.
Sorry if this sounds patronizing. I always hated it when I get on a board and ask for something, and some curmudgeon geek tells me "Google is your friend". But it's true. You get better answers faster, as you can avail from the entire Internet, as opposed to the small number of people who reply to your query.
Thanks to the dude who linked to the Cyan advice post. My takeaway is this one line:
"There is a *ton* of information out there but any kind of "step-by-step rom cooking guide" is going to be a complete fail- it's too broad of a subject."
IMO if you are serious about ROM hacking, you need a dedicated linux environment. Cygwin is OK for run-time stuff, but too limited for anything else. If you only want to run basic bash commands, a simpler solution is win-bash (http://win-bash.sourceforge.net).
I'm kinda in the same shoes you are. Android interests me, although I don't have a Xoom or an Android tablet for that matter. Was gonna get a HC tab to tinker, but HC is still too green, so decided on a Nook Color for educational purposes. It's been out a while, and has many hacks already done that I can peruse. That, and it'll be useful for my "read a lot" mantra above.

Need help with developing, eager beginner

I am a total beginner, don't know coding or anything. I would love to learn how to write code and any other android related development. I own an HTC thunderbolt and an HTC Droid Eris. I could use either phone for developing, just to learn. I have ambitions to make awesome thunderbolt roms, but I don't know how...
Please do not ignore this if you can help, I would love to become a part of this community and learn something new. If anyone could kindly please point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using Tapatalk

It's a must that you have to learn java first
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/
Then read everything here;
http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/licensing.html
Work thru all the links on the left side of the screen.
________________________________
http://ron-droid.blogspot.com

rigman said:
It's a must that you have to learn java first
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/
Then read everything here;
http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/licensing.html
Work thru all the links on the left side of the screen.
________________________________
http://ron-droid.blogspot.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate this! Sorry for the late reply, i kinda forgot i posted this , i wouldnt need any C or C++ backgrounds before java? I knew c++ once, but that was a long time ago

icanhazdroid said:
I appreciate this! Sorry for the late reply, i kinda forgot i posted this , i wouldnt need any C or C++ backgrounds before java? I knew c++ once, but that was a long time ago
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there's no need to learn C or C++ before Java.

icanhazdroid said:
I appreciate this! Sorry for the late reply, i kinda forgot i posted this , i wouldnt need any C or C++ backgrounds before java? I knew c++ once, but that was a long time ago
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need any C or C++. You can use either, though, if you use the Android NDK, which lets you use either Java, C, or C++. However, it's complicated and you probably shouldn't use it unless you know what you're doing.

You said you wanted to write roms. If it's true you will need c too for the kernel development. If you only want to write apps for Android java is enough.

I might learn C later on down the road, but Java sounds like all i need for now as far as kernels go, whenever i get around to being good enough to writing roms Ill probably just use kernels from other devs (with permission of course).

Guys tell me learning to code and finally developing mods and apps(no roms) generally take how much time?
If u want to know my technological skill level i ld say i am not from computer engg background but I am in India's best technology institute which is also 3rd best in d world after mit and berkley.please help
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

abhiwltya said:
Guys tell me learning to code and finally developing mods and apps(no roms) generally take how much time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It clearly depends on the app complexity.
I started from scratch (I'm basically a C developer, I didn't know anything about Java) and published my first game in 5 months, working nights and weekends.
The second one, will be hopefully published next september, so after 4 months of dev (nights and we).

Zappescu said:
It clearly depends on the app complexity.
I started from scratch (I'm basically a C developer, I didn't know anything about Java) and published my first game in 5 months, working nights and weekends.
The second one, will be hopefully published next september, so after 4 months of dev (nights and we).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too am trying to learn how to makes apps and games for android, been a goal of mine for ages.
How did you learn? what did you use/read? any help/advice/guides/tutorials would be very welcome! I am very determined!

FK1983 said:
I too am trying to learn how to makes apps and games for android, been a goal of mine for ages.
How did you learn? what did you use/read? any help/advice/guides/tutorials would be very welcome! I am very determined!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also started as good as from scratch (i've got a VHDL background with little C/C++ experience during my study).
I've started with the book Beginning Android. I didn't read it from A to Z but just started to fool around with the examples given in the book.
Besides that i've searched a lot on the internet for examples to try to understand how they work.
A website which I still use a lot to find my answers is Stackoverflow were you can see my the questions which i've asked.
First search on the internet. There is really a lot information out there. If you really can't find the answer, just ask. There are a lot of people willing to help you with your questions.
After about half a year fooling around with examples, in weekends and evenings after my daytime job, I've released my first App on the market. I'm currently working on my second app.

Tricky-Design said:
I've also started as good as from scratch (i've got a VHDL background with little C/C++ experience during my study).
I've started with the book Beginning Android. I didn't read it from A to Z but just started to fool around with the examples given in the book.
Besides that i've searched a lot on the internet for examples to try to understand how they work.
A website which I still use a lot to find my answers is Stackoverflow were you can see my the questions which i've asked.
First search on the internet. There is really a lot information out there. If you really can't find the answer, just ask. There are a lot of people willing to help you with your questions.
After about half a year fooling around with examples, in weekends and evenings after my daytime job, I've released my first App on the market. I'm currently working on my second app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for all the advice! been having a look and will make a start shortly!
If anyone else has advice to add it would be welcome as I have a feeling I will need all the help I can get!

Learn basic Java first. It's easy to play with Android developing when you have some knowledge in Java.
Android have Java and XML, so if you know Java all you need to learn is the XML which is easier because there's no logic in it.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

You could also start by theming ROM's. That's where I have started and it's a lot of fun. I've put together a comprehensive "how to" page to get anyone started.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1140034

Just an update, I just started learning Java today because I've been busy with other things, and I'm actually liking it so far After that I'll probably do C++ again, I forgot all of it, but knew it once upon a time...
As far as theming goes, I wouldn't mind doing that because it's generally fun, but I would rather spend my time learning how to develop first

am begginer i need free apps open source to modify

am begginer i need free apps open source to modify

sambeno said:
am begginer i need free apps open source to modify
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here. (Sorry but a one liner will be answered like that, could've googled that yourself )

SimplicityApks said:
Here. (Sorry but a one liner will be answered like that, could've googled that yourself )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is great! Thanks I'm new in android development too. Java is great but the one that confuse me is Android's classes and methods. Their documentation page scares the hell out of me. It feeds me lot of info with less sample. Thanks again!

Actually there is a sticky, not far from here(on Android Developers Forum), which has what you need:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2124002

If you are feeling confused by the api stay small and do simple things until you get the hang of it. I don't know your exact experience with Java but one thing that gets a lot of beginners is the OOP. Be sure you are good with it before starting with android. Also take note that android uses Dalvik VM and has different application lifecycle so be sure to learn it. When i began developing i was pretty confused too but stackoverflow is full of examples and nice guys that can help you out.

I think you need to learn from basic Android. You can learn from some tutorial or book (I recommend you to read Hello Android). If you have any question you don't know when learn, you can post in stackoverflow, these guys can help you and you will learn a lot of knowledge from that. Also, you can see samples from developer.android.com/samples/index.html , they are sample from Google, It's very useful!
Good luck!