Help regarding android 1.5 and 2.1 (beginner, issue of Book Version)

Question

I am new to android and last year i bought two books of android 1.5. But at that time i was busy in my project so was not able to work on android. Now i want to start android again. Should i go for those books or should i buy new editions Is there any major change regarding basic learnings? Two books i am having are:-

Pragmatic Hello Android (New addition of this book is available, But still in beta phase)

Apress begining Android (Dont know about this whether new edition is available or not)

Please let me know. Thanks

EDIT here i am not asking about the good books of android, as there are lot of questions regarding that. I can find out from them. My question is purely related to change in version

Answer 1

Should i go for those books or should i buy new editions Is there any major change regarding basic learnings?

The vast majority of Android has not changed. However, there are a few subjects, such as support for multiple screen sizes, that did change. You can find out what changed in each release (1.6, 2.0, 2.1) from the Android developer site. If you feel you can get sufficient knowledge of those topics from blog posts, StackOverflow questions, and the like, then you do not need to purchase newer books.

On the flip side, there is very little that a 1.5 book will teach you that is wrong for Android 2.1. The contacts ContentProvider changed, but otherwise there have been few regressions. Most of the changes in these releases are in the form of new capabilities.

Also, bear in mind that it is likely that there will be a new Android release (2.2? 2.5? 3.0?) released at Google I/O in a bit over a week.

Apress begining Android (Dont know about this whether new edition is available or not)

Your original edition of this book was really an Android 1.1 book with an Android 1.5 appendix, so that one is particularly old. Of the two books you have now, I would rely on Ed Burnette's Hello, Android more.

There is a newer version of Beginning Android. The same material is also available as The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development, available as part of the Warescription, written by, um, me. :-)