Database Develop

[Q] Looking for good resources

I am new to programming and definitely new to programming for the NOOK, so I want to know if anyone has a good set of links or books they can recommend for someone who is just starting out. I have a few ideas for apps I'd like to see, and I think they would fit well on the NOOK, but I don't know much about creating them.
I have looked at a few tutorials online, found a few good ideas to get started, but I am finding them difficult to follow, as they are not always structured very well for someone who is just starting. I have been looking at the developer site at android, as well as reading forums and blogs, yet I am still finding myself being somewhat lost.
Is there a good repository that is geared towards someone who doesn't have several years of programming experience out there?

ya im also very interested in this. ive read a bunch of online guides but i feel like reading it in a book would be more effctive.

Get the android SDK. It comes with tutorials starting with Hello World. There is also a free book called Thinking in Java, that helps you understand the language better.

Thanks, I will check out the book.

For those who already have the programming skills and are just new to the Android SDK, my friend and I spent a while researching the best book to learn from and concluded it is Professional Android 2 Development (Reto Meier, 978-0-470-56552-0). The book isn't perfect, but it seemed to have the most practical contents, the most clear explanations of concepts, and the most sensible chapter ordering.

[OT] Learning the ins and outs of java.

I'm a sophomore in high school taking computer science. (please don't judge me because of my age) Our school is making some major budget cuts, so sadly our video game programming and design class (the only other higher level programming class offered) got cut and this will be my last and only programming class at my school (well there's a possibility that it will be brought back in my senior year, but I'd at least like to stay fresh over the summer and next year). I don't know much about java to tell you the truth. I know how to use loops, conditionals, arrays (1 and 2 dimensional) and arraylists and most of the basic variable types (off of the top of my head, integers, doubles, booleans, longs, and strings). I've made some very very simple apps such as whack a mole and craps, but the gui class was provided by my teacher.
My question is this: is there a good, preferably free online program that teaches you the basics of java (especially related to the gui) and possibly some more complex programming?
I appreciate any help. thanks.
P.S. Please forgive me if this is too off-topic, but I really couldn't think of a better place to post this. Hope you guys will be able to help.

gonintendo said:
I'm a sophomore in high school taking computer science. (please don't judge me because of my age) Our school is making some major budget cuts, so sadly our video game programming and design class (the only other higher level programming class offered) got cut and this will be my last and only programming class at my school (well there's a possibility that it will be brought back in my senior year, but I'd at least like to stay fresh over the summer and next year). I don't know much about java to tell you the truth. I know how to use loops, conditionals, arrays (1 and 2 dimensional) and arraylists and most of the basic variable types (off of the top of my head, integers, doubles, booleans, longs, and strings). I've made some very very simple apps such as whack a mole and craps, but the gui class was provided by my teacher.
My question is this: is there a good, preferably free online program that teaches you the basics of java (especially related to the gui) and possibly some more complex programming?
I appreciate any help. thanks.
P.S. Please forgive me if this is too off-topic, but I really couldn't think of a better place to post this. Hope you guys will be able to help.
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Go to Youtube.....search for a guy named "thenewboston"
He has a whole series of java programming lectures that saved me in my Advanced Java course in college....

Mr. Apocalypse said:
Go to Youtube.....search for a guy named "thenewboston"
He has a whole series of java programming lectures that saved me in my Advanced Java course in college....
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Thanks! I'll make sure to check him out!

I was in the same place as you a while back. The best way to learn is by trying to make something you want.
Before jumping into any serious programming you need to learn a few more important concepts. Methods, classes, objects, and more on those. You need to understand how it all works before going further.
If you have any questions feel free to message me or hit me up on gtalk. I'll give you some tips, ideas, and some source code of apps to dig into, if you like.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

the basics:
http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
now go to some university's entry level cs website and do some of the programming assignments.
but if you know control flow, some data structures, types, etc. just program. there are a ton of simple things to write. for example, write a calculator that has an add method that just adds the two arguments, then write recursive multiplication, factorial, and exponential methods that only use add (or other methods you wrote). it's simple, but decent recursion practice. i could give you a ton of simple programs to write.
oh and pay attention to what everything actually is. read and understand what static, private, public, classes, objects, etc. actually are and their purpose.

birgertime said:
I was in the same place as you a while back. The best way to learn is by trying to make something you want.
Before jumping into any serious programming you need to learn a few more important concepts. Methods, classes, objects, and more on those. You need to understand how it all works before going further.
If you have any questions feel free to message me or hit me up on gtalk. I'll give you some tips, ideas, and some source code of apps to dig into, if you like.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
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I should have added, I have a basic understanding of methods and classes, and we are just getting into objects now.
Thanks for all the responses guys! really appreciate the help.

also, if you guys have any suggestions for simple apps that a beginner like my self could make, fire away.

I applaud you for beginning a hobby/interest in programming early. Currently I'm a 2nd year student at a university for Computer Science so I have a very direct understanding of Java. You should know that structure of Java (for every day use) is different than that of the Java on Android.
Download the Android SDK: developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Follow all the steps of installation and DO the Hello, Android (World) app that it gives you. Make sure you UNDERSTAND everything on the screen and in your main class.
Continue reading all the Developer documents for the SDK here:
developer.android.com/guide/index.html

Joy2DaWurld said:
I applaud you for beginning a hobby/interest in programming early. Currently I'm a 2nd year student at a university for Computer Science so I have a very direct understanding of Java. You should know that structure of Java (for every day use) is different than that of the Java on Android.
Download the Android SDK: developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Follow all the steps of installation and DO the Hello, Android (World) app that it gives you. Make sure you UNDERSTAND everything on the screen and in your main class.
Continue reading all the Developer documents for the SDK here:
developer.android.com/guide/index.html
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Thanks! I had kind of figured that android developement would be a whole different beast.

Who is this "java" girl and why would you like to go in and out and in and out of her?

What can I say? Different strokes.

gonintendo said:
What can I say? Different strokes.
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Perhaps you would like to have a go at Missionary Java or K9 Java.

I can sell you my 'Programming with Alice and Java' textbook...if I find it. It has all the intro stuff. First it uses a program called Alice to teach you how it works, and then it teaches you to do actual code. When I find it I can tell you where it leaves off.

Optimizing Views

Hey guys, wanted to post this publicly because I think we can throw ideas around, not just between people on XDATV but with anyone interested. Basically, I want to share some of the things I've learned from youtube over the years about optimizing the impact of our videos. If we work together on this, everyone benefits.
I assume everyone wants to see their view count go up. We make videos for people to watch, and the view count says how many times they've been watched. So that's the goal, and these ideas are all about achieving that goal. For each idea, I'm putting what we'd do, and then explain why.
1. Post only on your designated day--or if you must, on a day when no one else is posting--so there is only one video posted per day.
Most of the views come from that Latest Video on XDATV box on the right hand column on the portal. At the very least this idea is a courtesy to one another because we aren't taking time on that prime real estate away from each other. Our videos shouldn't compete with our other videos. We're working as a whole, however disjointedly. I wouldn't post more than one video a day even on my own channel for the very same reason. Actually, that's not true... I have posted more than one video in a day on my youtube channel before, with the explicit intention of burying the first. Because that's what posting more than one video a day does.
Videos do not work like blogs. Especially not when the videos are time-sensitive, as many of our videos are. And looking on every other tech blog that also makes videos, you'll see they do this too. The reason the first video gets so few views is because even the most dedicated viewers tend to check Youtube only once per day. Also, the longer a video goes before the next is posted, the more views it gets. Something to keep in mind if you want to post more in a week than your timeslot allows.
2. Tell the viewers to subscribe to the youtube channel, or at least to check out more of our videos.
Currently, our videos are averaging more views than the xdadevelopers youtube channel has subscribers. While that's a good indication of future growth, it still means that more people are watching than are subscribed. Often, people just forget to do it. Given the linear growth in subscribers versus the radically varying video views, it means that we aren't building a steady viewer base, we're mostly getting one-time views in passing.
Now, I know we're here more or less to provide a service to the forum, and if that's all we want XDATV to be, then there's no reason to follow this idea. However, XDATV could be a great marketing tool for xda-developers, which would make the relationship between XDATV and the forum less parasitic and more symbiotic. Bad analogy, but I can't think of a better one right now. I can't think of any reason why we wouldn't want XDATV to bring people to the forum and likewise, instead of only the forum bringing people to XDATV. Our subscriber count means nothing on the forums, but on Youtube, subscribers mean baseline views. (And if videos are getting far fewer views than the channel has subscribers, something went very wrong. That's the case with my channel, went on too many hiatuses.) Building it needs to be a big focus.
3. Provide links, article titles, tags, and video titles with each video.
For the most part we all provide article titles and links, but the more, the better. Internet searches pick up on everything in the video description, so the more detailed it is, the more traffic your video will get. Tags and video titles are the same, but we don't do them. Tags provide keywords. You know this, I'm just reiterating. Imagine every reason you can that someone might need your video. Your tags should be all the words you think they would search to find your video.
Lastly, the video titles. When I find tech videos for other sites, if it's news they title it with one or two of the biggest headlines, put ambiguously. That way people searching for any related headlines will be more inclined to watch. Stuff like "NEW EVO 3D!!!!" or "Xperia Mini Revealed!" And so on. And trust me, people click it. If it's a tutorial, review, or even interview, the title tends to be what you can do with the info in the video. Chad sorta did that a bit ago, but it should be simpler. Something like, "Root Your Desire HD". Shawn, your interview with Mendozinas could have been titled "Make Your Own Themes on Android". The titles are relevant, but capitalize on what people can get out of it, rather than what it's about or, as we're titling them now, what it is. And then, providing these things for Svetius will make his job a whole lot easier.
I was pretty sure I had more, but I forgot for now. So go make words below this post, preferably in some coherent order and pertinence.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App

Werd. Agreed. I don't give XDA as much love as I give the other two sites I work for. I might start soon.

Azrienoch, the podcast should also pick up the viewing count and any description added to the files, so such information is always good, particularly links.
I just hope that we can get the update process sorted out so you guys can do your encoding and then update the podcast without any effort on your part. I'm not sure what we need to do to submit the podcast to iTunes etc, but I am reluctant to do so until the podcast is updated promptly (I guess I could open it up for other users to upload the videos instead, but that creates other issues).
At the moment, there will be a two week gap in updates as I won't be able to do it until the end of the month.
There are still some adjustments I want to make to it (icon, description etc), so if you guys want anything altered or changed then let me know. Most parts are adjustable (I've noticed that meltwater is in the copywrite bit - it only showed up on my GoogleReader, I'll remove it when I can - it is because I'm using my FeedBurner version of the youTube feed to get around my access issues...which I setup a while back).
If we want to move it to a common account or something then it will have no effect on the podcast link itself (as you just update feedburner account). Also we can set-up a common feedburner account too if you guys want to view the stats.
As of Today, the stats are: 896 views of 34 items
If only youtube would re-enable the rss feeds directly and then the podcast would also count on the viewing count too. I can also add a podcast item about subscribing to the channel too, but not everyone wants to use data-plans to access content on the go.

A better line of communication with the news team and owners/maintainers of the site wouldn't hurt, either. At the present time it's like a 5 story office building, and the door is locked to each floor, so you have to call and request it to be opened over intercom.

Today's stats are: 1,446 views of 34 items
Shame as it is just starting to grow, it won't be updated for a while.

meltwater said:
Today's stats are: 1,446 views of 34 items
Shame as it is just starting to grow, it won't be updated for a while.
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No worries, man. We're in this for the long haul.

azrienoch said:
No worries, man. We're in this for the long haul.
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Shall look forward to the new videos when I return! Cheers.

Great tips, Jeff.

[Q] Looking for Good App Development Books

Good Morning Everyone,
I will have to say I am new to attempting to programming my own apps. I will apologize in advance for not knowing any of the current slang or abbreviations for what is "cool" in the App. tech world.
I am an old-school tabletop gamer/storyteller, while not exactly a "noob", I have been involved in PC and Console games for decades, I do not have much experience with App programming.
I have several ideas that are simple and will definitely do well... if I could get past the basic concept phase.
While not exactly computer illiterate it has been several decades since I have had to do any of my own programming. I recognize a lot of the methods and have little problem picking it up, if I had literature, video lessons, etc. What I need some help finding are good sources to work with.
What publishers currently have the most up-to-date or well thought out hard copy books to pick up to assist in learning app programming (Other than the Dummies Guides)? ISBNs would be a big help in hunting down the books.
Thanks to anyone who takes the time to assist a noob programmer out.

To the experienced devs, how would you recommend going about learning coding, and how would that transition into developing?

This is a complicated question, with an even more complicated answer, and I'm really looking for feedback from EXPERT devs only. I personally would love to learn coding. But anytime I watch some youtube video on learning python or this or that, I hit a road block whenever I follow their instructions verbatim, yet I get an error or something significantly different from what I should be seeing according to the video, and I go back and check and I've done everything exactly as they did and it just won't work! I have no one to turn to to ask for guidance or to explain to me what is happening or what I'm doing wrong. It's really upsetting at times to try it and just feel helpless. Everything I know about computers is self taught. I'm 30, built my own computer when I was 17 and been upgrading it slowly ever since(3 mobo/cpu/ram and 5 gpu upgrades, and just learned how to flash the BIOS on my gpu to unlock higher power limits), been rooting and flashing my phones since Gingerbread, was always in advanced science and math courses, so I'm confident I can learn it, but I feel stuck without guidance. I cannot afford formal schooling, especially during this COVID fiasco. I'm currently unemployed and I'm worried about not being able to find work again soon, and thought this would be the perfect time to learn code with all this free time on my hands, and maybe make a career out of it since the software dev job field is booming. So in short, my question is what course of action, advice, or anything of that sort would you suggest regarding lack of council? To those who self taught especially, any pointers for me? I feel like once I can understand why or how the languages function the way they do, I could trial and error it from there, but I just don't know where to go to learn the science behind the code if you know what I mean. Anything would help. I look forward to hearing from yall!
Thanks!
P.S. Sorry if this is in the wrong channel. Lemme know if and where I need to post if so.