Good book for beginning android development

Question

Hi guys Can somebody suggest the best book or online resource for beginning android apps development?

Thanks

Answer 1

The Dev Guide on the Android Developer's site is pretty good. There is an Android Basic's section to get you started.

As for a book, try Android Application Development, published by O'Reilly.

Answer 2

Hello I would 100% recommend this :

http://commonsware.com/

It's a yearly subscription giving you access to three android books which are kept up-to-date as a PDF or Kindle copy. They are updated when changes are required such as a new SDK release.

The guy that makes the books is also very active here on StackOverflow.

Answer 3

There's a lot of excellent resources both online and in printed form. I've listed a bunch of them in answer to another Stack Overflow question: How Can I Learn Android?

I'd start with the Developer's Guide on the Android Developers site. It explains all the fundamentals and includes several worked examples that can help introduce you to how the various Android features fit together. The sample Code section provides a bunch of working Android applications that should help you get a feel for Java and Android.

If books are more your thing there's a bunch of Android titles, though most assume at least a working knowledge of Java syntax. I'll take the opportunity to personally vouch for my own title, Professional Android Application Development.

Answer 4

I can't vouch for this specific title from them, but I've had good luck with Manning publications--so their book, Unlocking Android, might be a good one to look at.

Android is still a young platform though, so dead-tree copies of material are likely to become out of date fast. My .02 cents is that Pauk's answer is the best; the online materials will stay up to date and are freebies :)

Answer 5

For the very basics maybe start off with the Android Developer Guide. It's free online documentation, so its a good place to start.

After that, maybe take a look at commonsware.com. You'll be able to purchase 3 books that are kept up to date in pdf form.

Answer 6

commonsware.com really rocks. By far the most comprehensive reading and I really enjoy the style too

Answer 7

I have 5 books in my collection, and Top 2 as of September 2009 are:

1. "Professional Android Application Development" by Reto Meier

   /* Decent book with a lot of useful examples. Not perfect though, but the best one available at the moment. Reto Meier is also one of the Stack Overflow users. */

2. "Hello, Android" by Ed Burnette

   /* Lightweight. It offers a quick introduction to the main concepts on the phone. Reportedly, the new version of the book includes Cupcake editions (or at least, it is Cupcake compliant) */

Unfortunately, none of the books that I have covers native development on Android.

While I obviously recommend the books above, I would highly recommend downloading the source code, because you will quickly read what you need from the books, and you will still need more information. So, get the code and dive in it.

Answer 8

I personally like Reto Meier's Professional Android Application Development a lot. I feel it explains things better than most other books, some of which feel like they've just rewritten the Android documentation with some code thrown in here and there.

Answer 9

I started with Reto Meier's Professional Android Application Development as well. I had no previous experience and the book was really good to get a basic understanding of the platform. In the book yo can find example code as well which is also very good for a beginner's level.

Answer 10

I second that. Reto Meiers book is great for starting out with Android. Easy to follow and explains things better than most other books.

Answer 11

I've got every Android book that's available EXCEPT the latest O'Reilly book which I browsed and didn't find to be more unique than others.

I have Reto Meiers book and like it.

I also have Mark Murphy's Busy Coder's Guides and like them also. You can get them at commonsware.com

There is another book I have that I probably use more than any of them: "Unlocking Android: A Developer's Guide" by Manning Publishers. Its excellent at explaining things and the examples are also substantial.

Answer 12

I personally liked Unlocking Android: A Developer's Guide. It's definitely oriented toward people who are new to Android. I've also read good things about the books sold by commonsware.com, but I haven't personally read them yet - those are next on my list.

Answer 13

"Pro Android" is fantastic and will get you off to the right start:

http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430215968

Answer 14

I found Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform, 2nd Edition rather helpful. Consider this a one week introduction to the Android Mobile Platform.

Answer 15

I have read Mark Murphy's(a.k.a commonsware.com)

Busy Coders Guide to Android development

and as a beginner, I found it very helpful and easy to follow. He has written three books on Android. Besides getting a hard copy of his books you can get a warescription under which you will get acess to soft copies(pdfs) of all his books.

I have also read and found

Professional Android Application Development by Reto Meier

very useful.

Answer 16

Check Dev Guide section on developer.android.com

Also there is a Video tutorials on Videos section.

Answer 17

1. Android Wireless Application Development
2. Professional Android Application Development
3. Hello, Android

Answer 18

I use this books and are very helpful:

1. Android Wireless Application Development
2. Professional Android Application Development
3. Hello, Android

Answer 19

If you're interested primarily in ebooks, check out Safari books online. They have the second book you linked, but not the first.

http://www.safaribooksonline.com/

I've used it for years and love it. Depending on your subscription level you get full access to thousands of ebooks. They're all searchable and such. The search engine isn't necessarily the best, but its helpful. I'm going through the process of getting a corporate subscription here at work for my group.

For the record, I'm not a shill, just a happy customer/user.

Answer 20

You can also check out the books by CommonsWare a very helpful member of the Android community here on SO. They're available as eBooks and in print. I haven't read them, but judging by his answers on SO he knows his stuff.

Answer 21

Reto Meier's Professional Android 2 Application Development is available as an eBook.

Answer 22

I liked Ed Burnette's Hello Android. The third edition (the one I read) is currently available as a beta ebook, and covers everything through 2.1. The print copies are due in July, presumably to give him time to update it with whatever's in Froyo once it's announced at Google I/O.

Answer 23

Surprisingly, there doesn't appear to be as much books about android programming as one would think given the tremendous growth and interest in the platform. Perhaps they're cooking in the oven? I would say there is currently less than a dozen android programming books out there, all but three or so are up to date with 2.1. Take a walk into a typical Barnes-N-Noble bookstore and you might find one or two books about Android programming to about a few dozen iphone programming books. That said, Mr. Murphy's online books are a good choice to get up and running quickly. His style is to build small samples line by line and describe what each line of code is doing and why. If you go with his subscription books, don't bother buying his books from Apress publishing since they are basically the same material.

Answer 24

'Hello Android' 3rd edition by Ed Burnett just came out in print this end of July 2010, make sure you get that one while it's still fresh. That book contains the clearest definitions and has no mistakes in its installation instructions or its code samples (which is really rare these days). It covers Android 2.2 (Froyo) and uses a Sudoku Game as its main example.

It's absolutely perfect for the very beginner. The only drawback is that the volume is pretty slim. So if you've been playing with Android for a couple of weeks/months already, this may not be the best book for you. There are books for reference. There are books for learning. This book is for learning, starting to learn especially.

Answer 25

I reviewed Apress' Beginning Android 2 a few months back. Like many Apress books, this book has a lot of code samples and screen-shots, so it's pretty easy to follow along. If you check out the page on APress' site, there's a preview so you can get an idea if the book is for you.

Links: http://yyztech.ca/posts/beginning-android-2 http://apress.com/book/view/9781430226291