Learning Android Application Programming for the Kindle Fire

Working with Other Types of Drawables 60 Working with Layouts 60 Designing Layouts Using the Layout Resource Editor 61 Designing Layouts Using XML 62 Working with Files 64 Working with XML Files 64 Working with Raw Files 65 Working with Other Types of Resources 66 Summary 66 Exercises 66 5 Configuring the Android Manifest File 69 Exploring the Android Manifest File 69 Using the Manifest Tab 70 Using the Application Tab 71 Using the Permissions Tab 71 Using the Instrumentation Tab 72 Using the AndroidManifest.xml Tab 73 Configuring Basic Application Settings 73 Naming Android Packages 74 Versioning an Application 74 Setting the Minimum Android API Version 75 Naming an Application 76 Providing an Icon for an Application 76 Providing an Application Description 76 Setting Debug Information for an Application 77 Setting Other Application Attributes 77 Defining Activities 77 Registering Activities 77 Designating the Launch Activity 78 Managing Application Permissions 79 Managing Other Application Settings 81 Summary 81 Exercises 81 6 Designing an Application Framework 83 Designing an Android Trivia Game 83 Determining High-Level Game Features 83 Determining Activity Requirements 84 Determining Screen-Specific Game Features 85 Implementing an Application Prototype 90 Reviewing the Accompanying Source Code 90 Creating a New Android Project 90 Adding Project Resources 91 Implementing Application Activities 92 Creating Application Preferences 93 Running the Game Prototype 95 Creating a Debug Configuration 95 Launching the Prototype in the Emulator 95 Exploring the Prototype Installation 96 Summary 97 Exercises 97 II: Building an Application Framework 7 Implementing an Animated Splash Screen 101 Designing the Splash Screen 101 Implementing the Splash Screen Layout 102 Adding New Project Resources 103 Updating the Splash Screen Layout 106 Working with Animation 110 Adding Animation Resources 110 Animating Specific Views 112 Setting the Image Animations 113 Handling Animation Lifecycle Events 114 Summary 115 Exercises 116 8 Implementing the Main Menu Screen 117 Designing the Main Menu Screen 117 Determining Main Menu Screen Layout Requirements 118 Designing the Screen Header 118 Designing the GridView Control 118 Finishing Touches for the Main Menu Layout Design 119 Implementing the Main Menu Screen Layout 119 Adding New Project Resources 120 Updating the Main Menu Screen Layout Files 121 Working with the GridView Control 124 Filling a GridView Control 124 Listening for GridView Events 127 Working with Other Menu Types 128 Adding an Options Menu to the Game Screen 129 Summary 131 Exercises 131 9 Developing the Help and Scores Screens 133 Designing the Help Screen 133 Implementing the Help Screen Layout 135 Adding New Project Resources 135 Updating the Help Screen Layout 135 Working with Files 136 Adding Raw Resource Files 136 Accessing Raw File Resources 137 Designing the Scores Screen 138 Determining Scores Screen Layout Requirements 138 Adding the TabHost Control 139 Implementing the Scores Screen Layout 141 Adding New Project Resources 141 Updating the Scores Screen Layout 142 Building a Screen with Tabs 144 Configuring the TabHost Control 144 Adding Tabs to the TabHost Control 145 Setting the Default Tab 145 Working with XML 146 Retrieving XML Resources 146 Parsing XML Files with XmlResourceParser 146 Applying Finishing Touches to the Scores Screen 147 Summary 148 Exercises 148 10 Collecting User Input 149 Designing the Settings Screen 149 Implementing the Settings Screen Layout 151 Adding New Project Resources 151 Updating the Settings Screen Layout 154 Using Common Form Controls 155 Working with EditText Controls 156 Working with Spinner Controls 159 Saving Form Data with SharedPreferences 161 Defining SharedPreferences Entries 161 Saving Settings to SharedPreferences 161 Reading Settings from SharedPreferences 162 Summary 163 11 Using Dialogs to Collect User Input 165 Working with Activity Dialogs 165 Exploring the Different Types of Dialogs 166 Tracing the Lifecycle of a Dialog 167 Using the DatePickerDialog Class 168 Adding a DatePickerDialog to a Class 168 Initializing a DatePickerDialog 170 Launching DatePickerDialog 170 Working with Custom Dialogs 171 Adding a Custom Dialog to the Settings Screen 172 Summary 178 Exercises 178 12 Adding Application Logic 181 Designing the Game Screen 181 Implementing the Game Screen Layout 183 Adding New Project Resources 184 Updating the Game Screen Layout 185 Working with ViewSwitcher Controls 186 Initializing Switcher Controls 187 Implementing Switcher Factory Classes 187 Updating the TextSwitcher Control 189 Updating the ImageSwitcher Control 189 Wiring Up Game Logic 190 Adding Game State Settings to the SharedPreferences 191 Retrieving, Parsing, and Storing Book Data 192 Summary 197 Exercises 197 13 Adding Network Support 199 Designing Network Applications 199 Working with an Application Server 199 Managing Lengthy Network Operations 200 Informing the User of Network Activity 201 Developing Network Applications 201 Enabling Network Testing on the Emulator 202 Testing Network Applications on Kindle Fire 202 Accessing Network Services 202 Planning Have You Read That? Network Support 202 Setting Network Permissions 203 Checking Network Status 203 Using HTTP Networking 203 Indicating Network Activity with Progress Bars 204 Displaying Indeterminate Progress 204 Displaying Determinate Progress 204 Displaying Progress Dialogs 204 Running Tasks Asynchronously 206 Using AsyncTask 206 Using Threads and Handlers 207 Downloading and Displaying Score Data 207 Extending AsyncTask for Score Downloads 207 Starting the Progress Indicator with onPreExecute() 208 Clearing the Progress Indicator with onPostExecute() 209 Handling Cancellation with onCancelled() 209 Handling Processing with doInBackground() 210 Handling Progress Updates with onProgressUpdate() 211 Starting the ScoreDownloaderTask 212 Downloading and Parsing Batches of Books 213 Extending AsyncTask for Book Downloads 213 Starting the Progress Dialog with onPreExecute() 214 Dismissing the Progress Dialog with onPostExecute() 214 Handling the Background Processing 215 Starting the BookListDownloaderTask 215 Determining What Data to Send to the Server 216 Keeping Player Data in Sync 216 Uploading Settings Data to a Remote Server 217 Working with Android Services 218 Implementing UploadTask 220 Uploading Player Data with the HTTP GET Method 220 Uploading Score Data to a Remote Server 223 Downloading Friends' Score Data 224 Summary 224 Exercises 224 14 Exploring the Amazon Web Services SDK for Android 225 The 10,000-Foot View of AWS 225 Exploring the AWS Offerings 226 Using AWS Database and Storage Services 227 Using AWS Messaging and Notification Services 227 Using AWS Infrastructure and Administrative Services 228 Summary 228 Exercises 228 III: Publishing Your Kindle Fire Application 15 Managing Alternative and Localized Resources 233 Using the Alternative Resource Hierarchy 233 Understanding How Resources Are Resolved 234 Organizing Alternative Resources with Qualifiers 234 Using Alternative Resources Programmatically 236 Organizing Application Resources Efficiently 236 Customizing the Application Experience 237 Updating the Main Screen 237 Updating the Splash Screen 238 Updating the Game Screen 239 Updating the Other Screens 240 Internationalizing Android Applications 240 How Android Localization Works 241 How the Android Operating System Handles Locale 241 How Applications Handle Locales 241 How Kindle Fire Handles Locales 243 Android Internationalization Strategies 243 Forgoing Application Internationalization 244 Limiting Application Internationalization 245 Implementing Full Application Internationalization 245 Using Localization Utilities 246 Determining System Locale 246 Formatting Strings Like Dates and Times 246 Handling Currencies 247 Summary 247 Exercises 247 16 Testing Kindle Fire Applications 249 Testing Best Practices 249 Developing Coding Standards 250 Performing Regular Versioned Builds 250 Using a Defect Tracking System 251 Developing Good Test Plans 251 Maximizing Test Coverage 252 Testing on the Emulator 252 Testing on Target Devices 253 Performing Automated Testing 253 Summary 260 Exercises 260 17 Registering as an Amazon Application Developer 261 Understanding the Release Process 261 Preparing the Release Candidate Build 263 Preparing the Android Manifest File for Release 263 Protecting Your Application from Software Pirates 264 Readying Related Services for Release 265 Testing the Application Release Candidate 265 Signing Up as an Amazon App Developer 266 Packaging and Signing an Application 267 Digitally Signing Applications 267 Exporting and Signing the Package File 267 Testing the Signed Application Package 268 Installing the Signed Application Package 269 Verifying the Signed Application 269 Summary 270 Exercises 270 18 Publishing Applications on the Amazon Appstore 271 Selling on the Amazon Appstore 271 Signing Up for a Developer Account 271 Complying with the Developer License Agreement 272 Uploading an Application 272 Understanding Amazon Appstore Royalties 273 Using Other Developer Account Benefits 273 Generating Reports 274 Summary 274 Exercises 274 IV: Appendixes A Configuring Your Android Development Environment 279 Configuring Your Development Environment 279 Development Machine Prerequisites 280 Installing the Java Development Kit 281 Installing the Eclipse IDE 281 Installing the Android SDK 281 Installing and Configuring the Android Plug-In for Eclipse (ADT) 282 Downloading Android SDK Components 282 Upgrading the Android SDK and Tools 284 Debugging with the Amazon Kindle Fire 284 Configuring Other Android Devices for Development Purposes 286 B Eclipse IDE Tips and Tricks 289 Organizing Your Eclipse Workspace 289 Writing Code in Java 293 C Supplementary Materials 299 Using the Source Code for This Book 299 Accessing the Android Developer Website 300 Accessing the Publisher's Website 300 Accessing the Authors' Website 301 Contacting the Authors 303 Leveraging Online Android Resources 304 Index 305

latest technologies, such as cloud services and mobile platforms, and other exciting, state-of-the-art technologies that activate the creative part of his brain. He is a very hands-on geek dad. He also enjoys traveling the world with his geeky wife, even if she did make him dive with 4-meter-long great white sharks and almost get eaten by a lion in Kenya. He admits that he has to take at least two phones with him when backpacking-even though there is no coverage-and that he snickered and whipped out his Android phone to take a picture when Laurie got her tongue stuck to that iceberg in Iceland, and that he has learned that he should be writing his own bio. The authors have also published several other Android books, including Android Wireless Application Development, Android Wireless Application Development Volume I: Android Essentials, Android Wireless Application Development Volume 2: Advanced Topics, Sams Teach Yourself Android Application Development, and the mini-book Introducing Android Development with Ice Cream Sandwich . Lauren and Shane have also published numerous articles on mobile-software development for magazines, technical journals, and online publishers of educational content. You can find dozens of samples of their work in Linux User and Developer, Smart Developer magazine (Linux New Media), developer.com, Network World, Envato (MobileTuts+ and CodeCanyon), and InformIT, among others. They also publish articles of interest to their readers at their own Android website: http://androidbook.blogspot.com. You can find a full list of the authors' publications at http://goo.gl/f0Vlj .