[ale] Android development tutorial?

[Alex Carver]

I'll take a look at it.  Right now what I want to write is a weather 
widget for the home screen.  I know there's 45 billion weather widgets 
but I want to write a simple one that pulls an XML data file from NOAA 
once every 15-20 minutes then renders the current conditions and seven 
day forecast.  I also then don't have to think about what the app is 
using and sending away to who knows where.  One of the goals is to make 
it very light weight and resource friendly.

On 6/11/2013 18:49, Byron Jeff wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 04:05:03PM -0700, Alex Carver wrote:
>> Anyone know of a good tutorial for Android development?  I want to
>> experiment writing a couple small applications for personal use.
>
> Warning: This is a bit off base.
>
> If you do not need a large or high performance application, I find that
> Scripting Layer for Android (SL4A) is good for testing out ideas and small
> applications:
>
> http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting
>
> SL4A creates an interface between a large part of the Android API and
> loadable scripting languages such as Python, PHP, Lua, Javascript, Ruby,
> and Beanshell. It facilitates invoking functions with a minimum of
> infrastructure setup. For example a Text to Speech 'Hello world' is 3
> lines of code in Python:
>
> from android import Android
> droid = Android()
> droid.ttsSpeak('Hello World')
>
> SL4A supports popup form, web form, and full UI interfaces with standard
> Android layouts. The tutorials on the SL4A site shows examples of each.
>
> It has its limitations. The most annoying part to me is that it doesn't
> interface well with the Android Intents System. I ended up writing my own
> separate Java app that collects broadcast intents and fires off SL4A
> scripts. Another part is understanding that you have to download and
> install the scripting language of choice separately from SL4A. Finally, as
> of a year ago, there wasn't real effective tablet integration.
>
> But it has the advantages of being able to script directly on the device,
> or remotely from a desktop. And with minimal script setup requirements,
> it's possible to test ideas really quickly. Finally there is a mechanism
> where SL4a, the required interpreter, and the script can be packaged
> together in an APK so that it looks like a standalone application.
>
> It may not be the right choice. But I would suggest taking a look before
> taking the full blown dive into the Java/Eclipse/Android development world.