I am a newcomer to Android. I know the C And C++ programming languages, but I do not know Java . I want to learn Android right from basics, but I could not find any relevant link or e-book that can help me.
Can I begin to learn Android without knowing Java or should i go to learn Java first? From where should I learn Android which should be easy to grasp and learn for a newcomer like me.
One of the best books I found was "Hello, Android" by Ed Burnette. It's a great starting point using a real-life application as an example.
It helped me get started in no time.
Java is more of a prerequisite otherwise you will wonder what a statement does and so on. Just learn the basic stuff of Java and give android a try
I've only just started to look into it but I'm finding the tutorials on the developers guide useful. I suggest you learn Java first (or at least side-by-side with the Android environment) - it will be somewhat useful to your Android development career :-).
But you don't need to learn every single class in the Java libraries, probably just the basics to start with.
You are not alone
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/475152/how-can-i-learn-android
Take a look at a java tutorial for C++ Programmers:
Several android tutorials are available on google code:
If you're a relatively experienced developer it shouldn't take too much effort to migrate to Android / Java. Android uses Java language, but runs on a custom Dalvik VM rather than a Java VM, so knowing Java really just gives you a headstart on the language syntax and common libraries.
Practically speaking, with Android being available for over a year now there's a bunch of useful resources available.
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, including:
** DISCLAIMER: I wrote this particular book.*
If that's all too much Java, it's worth scouting the net for some C/C++ to Java sites. Alternatively there are hundreds of titles on Amazon the give a good introduction to Java including Head First Java that seems to be very popular and gets some very good reviews.
My style for learning new languages is to create working applications in that language, so there's no particular reason you can't do that with an Android project. Personally, my background before Android was C# .NET, with a little Java knowledge from my University days, and I found the transition quite straight forward.
If you're like me, you need a project to learn something new. Go contribute to an open source project or start your own.
I'd also agree with what Reto said. Head First Java is a great book to get started... stupid diagrams are so catchy...
plug I'd also add/plug my own book, 'Android Essentials' to the list. Which is specifically written to get new folks up and running at a basic level. (Don't believe the reviews, it is now up to date) /plug
I've found http://androidforbeginners.blogspot.com to have some good, basic tutorials too. It's written in plain english and tries to explain what's going on.. At least can help to get you off the ground :)