Saturday, 14 May 2011

Best Android Books: My Top 5 Choices


There are a number of high quality books available about Android and Android application development. As with any subject, Google Android books vary greatly in quality and how broadly they cover their subject. We picked these 5 because they each approach the subject from a different perspective. Some carry the “introductory” flavor throughout the book, while others “ease you into” Android and then delve with more advanced topics. The point we are trying to make is that all these books can be complementary to each other rather than the “pick the best” kind. With that in mind, here are 5 of the top Android books.

The Busy Coder’s Guide to Advanced Android Development

Mark Murphy is the author of the classic Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development. This book picks up where the previous one leaves off. It delves into more advanced topics such as creating widgets for the home screen, taking pictures with the camera and using sensors. Mark’s style is very informal and easy to read. This book is an important compliment to the Android documentation.

Professional Android 2 Application Development

Wrox’s Programmer to Programmer series of books are excellent for getting up to speed quickly and this book is no exception. This book deals with Android application development from the beginning through more advanced techniques. While it is well-suited for beginning Android developers, it does assume that the reader has some development experience and at least some familiarity with Java and Eclipse SDK. The author sprinkles the book with plenty of coding examples, which many books nowdays offload to a CD or link to their online repository. With a few exceptions, this books has a really great coverage of all Android components, from media to file IO to bluetooth and WiFi radios.

Hello, Android: Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform

This book is one of the best introductory Google Android books available. It deals with the basics of Android development and uses a consistent sample application with increasing functionality to demonstrate the concepts. This is the book to get if you’re brand new to Android development. However, it is a basic book so experienced Android developers will find its value somewhat limited. The book does a good job “easing” you into the subject. It starts off hand-holding novice Android developers, but as it progresses, it picks up pace. It forces beginners to review the previous chapters often. Instead of simply copy-pasting the “exmple” code, it challenges readers to come up with their own solutions.

Android Application Development: Programming with the Google SDK

O’Reilly books, known for their animal prints on their covers, have always been my first choice for any technical subject. This title is no exception. This book covers everything a new Android developer needs. It begins with an in-depth tutorial on how to set up your development environment and then gets into the details of Android application development. This book covers many advanced topics in Android development such as security. One drawback of this book is it heavily revolves around a specific Android application. If you don’t have your laptop handy when you are reading this book, some parts of it may be a bit confusing. The author takes a somewhat non-standard approach to covering Android by going over an application that has already been built instead of building it up with the reader as they progress from chapter to chapter. Overall, it’s still a pretty good technical book from the folks at O’Reilly!

Beginning Android 2

Written by the author of The Busy Coder’s Guide to Advanced Android Development, this book is one of the best beginner’s guides to Android application development. This book covers the core features of the Android API. It takes a pace that is appropriate for beginner’s but does not go into great depth. This is an excellent first Google Android book for new Android developers. Even developers with limited experience with Java will find this book useful and easy to understand.

Conclusion

The variety of Google Android books available to new or experienced Android developers is quite large. There are five books that stand out as the top Android books for learning about Android application development. These books provide a thorough foundation for the complete beginner and lead into much more advanced android development topics.


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1 comment:

  1. deep vats20 July 2011 at 00:14

    In Google operating google android application developmentsystem have many feature and all are very nice and easy to use

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