Name: Programming Android
ISBN: 9781449389697

What Hacker News says

obviouslygreenDec 2012

I'm primarily a web developer but have been moving slowly into Android over the last year. I have some great Java and Android resources -- they're readily available -- and follow a few blogs, like the official Google Android dev blog, but I think it'd be great to find some more Android app- or game-centric resources.

Do you follow any active Android-specific bloggers? Are there watering holes frequented by these mythical beasts? Are you in fact an Android?

I've read and revere O'Reilly's Programming Android and love Mario Zechner's Beginning Android Games as a reference on all sorts of game-related topics including efficiency and GC avoidance. The indie game dev scene is awesome, but I seem to be missing out on the part that concentrates on Android... am I just a failure at the internet, or is this a segment that keeps to itself?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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ZigurdJul 2011

I have good reason to like Android, and the way Google has made Adroid successful, very much: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Android-Zigurd-Mednieks/dp...

I also know from experience in the mobile application business that Android Market is the easiest platform vendor or carrier-controlled app market to deal with.

My comments relate mainly to how the tablet business differs from the handset business. The same practices that might be necessary for Android handsets don't apply to tablets, and evidently don't work as well, either.

I think tablets will be a very big part of computing, and Android tablets should be a big part of the tablet business. But, so far, Google hasn't allowed many low-cost OEMs to ship Android-based products with Android Market and Google's other proprietary applications. Had Google gone with, say, Archos on a $350 tablet instead of Motorola for a high-end product, the tablet roll-out for Android might be very different now. More generally, Google should not have tried to pick a winner, or a winning approach to tablet product formulation.

That openness to all comers makes Android Market vibrant and diverse. Maybe Google should try that approach to tablet OEMs, too.

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perceptDec 2014

Upvoted, and the book choices are as follows, but note that the response after submitting the request is something along the lines of: "Our team will review your request, and get back to you in a couple of days." (So I'm expecting coal in my stocking.)

Test-Driven Development with Python

iOS Game Development Cookbook

Java Performance: The Definitive Guide

Continuous Enterprise Development in Java

Clojure Cookbook

Mastering Perl, Second Edition

Mining the Social Web, Second Edition

Java Network Programming, Fourth Edition

Understanding and Using C Pointers

Embedded Android

ZeroMQ

Programming Android, Second Edition

Geolocation in iOS

Programming Computer Vision with Python

Safe C++

Python and AWS Cookbook

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ZigurdMay 2014

Some people are confused whether the O'Reilly sale deal is in fact less expensive than Amazon. Important fact #1: This sale is for DRM-free e-books, which are only available from oreilly.com. Amazon sells only the Kindle edition, which is copy-protected.

To take an example I'm familiar with, Programming Android in e-book form in a choice of DRM-free formats is $18.99 at oreilly.com, on sale. Purchasing (sort of, Amazon can revoke your purchase) at Amazon.com costs $19.79.

But, and there's always a big "but," you can rent Programming Android in Kindle form for $8.96, which is a great deal for a programming book you may not need to keep around after you read it. You can even rent it twice if you are slow getting through it and it would be cheaper than buying the Kindle edition from Amazon.

Some people find reading code in e-books difficult. All the code in Programming Android is available for download, which you can read in Eclipse or Android Studio, with cross referencing and doc pop-ups and syntax coloring. E-books do have an advantage in that O'Reilly's "animal" series is all monochrome printing in hard copy, but the e-books have syntax coloring and color diagrams.

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ZenProMay 2014

That's a weird attack...

[1] I posted the link to the AMA on HackerNews. Stop acting like you "uncovered" it. It's in my submissions. I also don't think a single one of my replies on that AMA counts as a Derp - if you do, please post the replies in particular. I had a number of PM's from Redditors saying they thought it was actually very clear and interesting.

Unlike your book on Programming Android which currently has 35% of it's reviews listing as terrible. http://www.amazon.com/Android-Application-Development-Progra...

[1] "Whatever your Android programming level is, this book is a complete waste of time and definitely doesn't worth a single penny. "

[2] "I am an avid Oreilly fan. I write software in a number of different languages and environments. This has got to be the absolute worst coverage of android I've seen. It was less informative than the books covering beta releases. There are typos, not just normal sentence typos but method signatures in the examples. I feel pretty ripped off having bought this book."

One of the worst rated books in O'Reilly history it seems. Congratulations. If you want to get into personal attacks Zigurd let's do it, let's get the rulers out and do some measuring. Derp derp.

[2] The AMA was cancelled because I redacated the names of individuals from my documents (Managers etc) so the Reddit Team decided it was not valid since it could be forged. That's fair enough, it's their platform and I was not willing to provide any other than my assessment reports. I can provide you the email chain if it bothers you that much and you present a compelling enough reason to want to verify it. However some very diligent Redditors actually did find my full details and contacted me to continue the ama offline.

EDIT TO ADD: It was all very friendly and the AMA Team kicked the concept around for a over a week before they said that the evidence was not in line with their guidelines of total transparency. One of the guys actually apologised shrug. At no point was there the insinuation of lying.

[3] Unless you can counter my citations of the law with evidence that they are false then your opinion ranks a little bit below that of my daughter and she is not even 5. Last time I checked RIPA, Data Protection, HMG Security Framework were all perfectly readable right here on the internet and the Joint Service Publications were viewable under certain circumstances.

I would expect better from you than this ridiculous cheap shot making me out to be some sort of liar when we have never met and you don't know me. You could have even messaged me on Reddit with your concerns. Hell, I have the same username.

Would you mind furnishing us with your experience of UK Legislation and the UK intelligence community?

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ZigurdMar 2014

Here is your decoder ring for O'Reilly "Animal" titles:

"Learning..." For beginners

"Programming" For intermediate-level

"Mastering" For advanced-level books

The "animal" books have the line-art drawings of animals on them. O'Reilly has other series, including books on general audience topics. There might be other key words indicating the level of the book if it isn't a programming book, but that's the nomenclature behind Programming Android

I would expect this book to go deep on bitcoin.

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