Postgraduate Diploma in Android Mobile Application Development via Online Distance Learning

Overview of the Android Environment

Learning Objectives; Overview of Android OS; Android Market;

Installing the Android Environment

Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE); Android Development Tools (ADT); Software Development Kit (SDK); Android Versions;

The Eclipse IDE

Building your App using Eclipse; Breakpoints in Eclipse; Debugging in Eclipse; Fixing Errors;

Introduction to Java Programming

Variables; Strings; Control Structures; Arrays; Methods; Classes and OOP; Inheritance;

XML

XML Format; XML Schema; XML used in Android;

Your first Android App

Creating your App using Eclipse; Understanding the Default Files; Setting up the Emulator; XML Layout and String resources;

Example App

Creation of a basic single view HelloWorld Android App to show how to create and run an App using Eclipse and the Emulator.

Android Application Lifecycle - Activities

Creating Activities, The Activity Lifecycle, Activity Stacks, Activity States, Monitoring State Changes, Understanding Activity Lifetimes, The Activity Class.

Example App

Creation of an app to demonstrate the activity lifecycle.

Understanding Fragments

Creating new fragments; Understanding the Fragment Lifecycle; Events, States; The Fragment Manager; Adding Fragments to Activities; Interfacing between Fragments and Activities; Android Fragment Classes;

Example App

Creation of an App to demonstrate how to create and manage Fragments, add to activities and interface with Activities.

Adding Interactive Behaviour

Basic Event Handling; Linking UI elements to Method;

Example App

Creation of an App to show how to add interaction between the App and the user. Adding Button elements to the UI and showing how to link these Button events to Java methods.

Designing the User Interface

App Design Guidelines; Introduction to Views and View Groups; Using Layouts; View orientations;

Example App

Creation of an App from scratch using the GUI editor in Eclipse to design your App’s User Interface. How to create views and layouts and link UI element to Java classes.

Android UI Elements

Using Android provided Views, ListViews, PickerViews; Using Menus, Adapter Objects and Adapter Views; Displaying properties file contents;

Example App

Creation of an App using Android views, which will show how to add menus and display basic text file data.

Intents

Using Intents to launch Activities; Setting launch and task behaviour; Understanding the Intent Object; Creating Intent Filters;

Example App

Creation of an App which will show how to implement Intents to launch an Activity to take a picture.

Android Services

Listening for Native Broadcast Intents; Monitoring Device State Changes using Broadcast Intents; Managing Manifest Receivers at runtime;

Example App

Creation of an App which implements the broadcast receiver, which detects when the mobile’s Battery is low.

Using Internet Resources

Connecting to the Internet; Understanding JSON format; Parsing JSON into Java Objects; Writing JSON Web Queries; Using Internet Services; Connecting to Google App Engine; Best practices for downloading data without draining the battery;

Example App

Creation of a Simple network example; Connecting to the Network; Creating Basic Web Views.

Files, Saving State and Preferences

Saving Simple Application Data; Creating and Saving Shared Preferences; Retrieving Shared Preferences; Creating a Settings Activity; Persisting the Application Instance State; Including static files as resources; Working with the File System; Creating, Using, Storing Application Files;

Example App

Creation of a Simple App to read and write data to files.

Android Database

Introducing the Android Databases; Overview of Relational Data; Introducing SQLite; Android Database Considerations; Querying a Database Adding; Updating and Deleting Rows; The Android Database Classes;

Example App

Creation of an App to implement and use the SQLite database, which can edit and store contact details.

Syncing to the Cloud

Syncing to the Cloud; Resolving conflicts; Transferring data using Sync Adapters;

Example App

Creation of a Simple App to store data to a cloud based database.

Location-based Services

Displaying Maps; Getting and monitoring location data; Storing your tracking data;

Example App

Creation of an App which displays a Google Map, displays your location and tracks and displays your movements.

Audio, Video and using the Camera

Playing audio and Video; Introduction to the Media Player; Controlling Media Player; Requesting and Managing Audio Focus; Audio Effects; Using the Camera to take Pictures; Controlling the Camera directly; Recording Video using Intents; Using Media Effects; Adding Media to the Media Store;

Example App

Creation of an App which displays and plays your pictures and video content, uses the Media Effects and adds media to the Media Store.

Managing Networks, Internet Connectivity and WI-FI

Introduction to the Connectivity Manager; Supporting User Preferences for Background Data Transfer; Finding and Monitoring Network Connectivity; Managing WI-FI Connectivity; Monitoring Active WI-FI Connections; Scanning HotSpots; Creating and Managing WI-FI Configurations; Transferring Data using WI-FI Direct;

Example App

Creation of an App which connects to the Internet when WI-FI is detected and plays online video content.

Advanced GUI Elements

Designing for Every Screen size and density; Optimising for Different Screen Sizes; Introduction to the Action Bar; Modifying the Icons and Title; Customising the background; Customising the Action Bar using drop-down lists; Using Custom Navigation Views; Introducing User Notifications; Registering Events;

Example App

Creation of an App which demonstrates how to use the advanced GUI elements such as the action bar, icons, drop-down lists and how to create custom navigation windows, user notifications and register events.

Graphics and Animation

Displaying Bitmaps Effectively; Using OpenGL; Adding Animation;

Example App

Creation of an App which displays 2D content using OpenGL.

Mobile Device Restrictions

Power concerns; Network concerns; Memory Usage;

Unit Testing, Source Control

Introduction to Unit Testing; Creating and running simple Unit Tests; Source Control using Git, Commits and Branches;

Example App

Creation of an App to show how to create and run unit tests in Eclipse IDE. Also demonstrating how to use source control features such as Commits and Branches.

Publishing your App

Preparing your App; Become a market publisher; Understanding Android Market; Uploading your App;

Example App

Demo on how to submit your completed App to the Android Market site.