Android Application Development

Chapter 3. Using the Android Development Environment for Real Applications

MicroJobs: This Book’s Main Sample Application

We want to take a look at applications that are more complex than “Hello, Android,” and that’s what we’ll do in this chapter. Based on the theory that it’s often easiest to explain things through an example, we’ll take an in-depth look at a more complex application, called MicroJobs. Some of the application’s code modules are named MJAndroid, so we’ll also use that name for the code associated with MicroJobs.

We’ll first take a look at what we want the MicroJobs application to do, then we’ll quickly get into the code itself. After looking at the structure of the application, we’ll describe in detail how to build the application and how to get it running on the emulator. Finally, we’ll take a look at some helpful debug hints in case you’re developing a similar application and it doesn’t start up. The reasons are not always obvious in the Android environment.

Android and Social Networking

One of the great promises of Android mobile phones is their ability to run applications that enhance opportunities for social networking between users. This promise echoes the reality of the Internet. The first generation of Internet applications were about user access to information, and many of those applications have been very popular. The second wave of Internet applications has been about connecting users to each other. Applications such as Facebook, YouTube, and many others ...