Introduction

This repository is for module 300CEM 'Android Application Development' at Coventry University. The module runs in 10 weeks, and there are 2 labs per week. Lab exercises are designed to expose different aspects of Android programming to our 3rd year undergraduate students. Detailed instructions are given in these lab sheets. You'll need to finish them to get a good understanding of the contents.

Before you start, you should have some experience with programming and a good knowledge of OOP. Understanding of Java syntax is desired but not essential as we have some dedicated sessions for it. The expected outcomes after the module are:

1. Analyse the Android platform components and their uses.
2. Design software suitable for Android platform.
3. Develop apps that can interact with web service APIs
4. Develop apps that can communicate with sensors built into the phone hardware

This current document contains the module plan for academic year 17-18, for the assessment please refer to Moodle. Our School also offers an equivalent iOS module, check out this GitHub page if interested.

Teaching plan

Week 1 Android Studio

Introduction to Android Studio

Contents

Installation of Java JDK/Android Studio, AVD, 'Hello World', navigating Android Studio, Context Menus, getting help

Refs

Ref.[1] chapter 1/2

Debugging

Contents

Git common operations, logging, debugger's tool window

Refs

Ref.[1] chapter 7/12

Week 2 The Java language

Language concepts

Contents

Data type, variable, expressions, identifiers, statements

Code generation, refactoring

Refs

Ref.[1] chapter 3

Ref.[2] chapter 2

Classes and objects

Contents

Classes, constants, methods, constructors, modifiers, inheritance

Google Java style

Refs

Ref.[3] chapter 5

Google Java Style

Week 3 XML and Gradle

XML

Contents

App manifest, XML schema, syntax, styles

Refs

Ref.[3] chapter 4

Gradle

Contents

IntelliJ build system, Gradle build concepts, Android lib dependencies

Refs

Ref.[1] chapter 13

App Manifest

Build System Overview

Gradle Plugin User Guide

Week 4 Simple Views and Layouts

UI design

Contents

MVC pattern, activity lifecycle, layouts, and intents

Pattern usability and design principles: animation, style, layout, components, pattern, usability

Refs

Ref.[4] chapter 2

Android official API guide: Material Design

Simple and complex view

Contents

Common controls, AdapterView, Spinner, ProgressBar, Android threading

Refs

Ref.[4] chapter 3/4

Week 5 AdapterViews and Fragments

AdapterViews

Contents

Simple listview, complex listview, adapter view, Grid view

Refs

Ref.[4] chapter 4

Android official API guide: List View

Fragments

Contents

Fragments, specialized fragments, screen orientation

Refs

Ref.[4] chapter 4

Week 6 Data persistence

SharedPreferences and files

Contents

SharedPreferences API, Android Device Monitor, Java IO, writing and reading to files, internal/external storage

Refs

Ref.[5] chapter 11/12

SQL database

Contents

SQLite API, helper class, pre-creating databases

Refs

Ref.[4] chapter 6

Week 7 Graphics and animation

Graphics

Contents

ViewPager, Drawable resources, extended View class

Refs

Ref.[3] chapter 9

Ref.[4] chapter 5

Animation

Contents

Property animation, View animation

Refs

Ref.[3] chapter 10

Android official API guide: Adding Animations

Week 8 Location services and Google maps

Location services

Contents

Getting location, retrieve updates, display address

Refs

Android official API guide: Making Your App Location-Aware

Google maps

Contents

Google maps

Refs

Google Maps API for Android

Week 9 Services and wearables

Notifications on Android wearables

Contents

Android services, broadcasting, notifications

Android wear apps

Contents

Setting up wearable environment, optimize for screen technologies, build watchface service, initialize drawable resources and styles

Refs

Ref.[1] chapter 15

Ref.[3] chapter 15

Week 10 Testing

Unit testing

Contents

JUnit essentials, Unit test best practices, local unit testing, mocked unit testing

Refs

Ref.[5] chapter 18

vogella tutorials: Unit Testing with JUnit

Instrumented testing

Contents

Instrumented unit tests, UI testing using Espresso

Refs

Android official API guide: Testing fundamentals

Reading list

1. Learn Android Studio
2. Learn Java for Android Development
3. Android Apps for Absolute Beginners
4. Beginning Android 4 Application Development
5. Introduction to Android Application Development

Some useful resources

• Official Android developer website
• Online Android courses on Coursera
• Past student coursework No. 1
• Past student coursework No. 2

About this Github repository

This Github repository is set up to host lab materials and code examples we use throughout the module. You can simply read and explore. However, writing to this repository is now allowed. If you would like a personal copy of it, you'll need to fork it. Read GitHub help on Fork A Repo for further info.

A number of colleagues and students contributed to this set of material by providing comments and/or corrections. I would especially express my thanks to the following people: Mark Tyers, Sumeet Gopiani, Adam Towse