The Android Chronicles

A New Blog, A New Topic

2010-08-29T12:33:00.000-04:00

http://adrians-java-tutorial.blogspot.com

I think the URL tells the biggest part of the story. It's a Java tutorial. The aim is to teach you how uChat (a small network chat program) works. More info there, but I briefly cover Java syntax; the primary focus will be the libraries and logic behind uChat.

Game Over - Insert Coin to Continue

2010-05-28T14:14:00.000-04:00

Well, unfortunately, this project (if it can be called that) is on hold indefinitely. I can't seem to maintain an interest in Android programming. It doesn't help that I don't have an Android phone...

So, that's Game Over for now. If I manage to get 'droid phone, I may start this back up, or I might start a new blog.

In the meantime, I may start another, more general, blog.

Either way, I'll post link(s) here.

Good news, bad news

2010-04-09T11:50:00.000-04:00

The good
The computer situation is settled, I've got my development environment set up again, and I have a few ideas for new apps.

The bad
I seem to have much less free time for programing...

I don't know when I'll get another app started, much less finished and posted. School semester ends in a few weeks, maybe I'll have time after that.

Bad news

2010-03-16T12:45:00.001-04:00

Well... I'm sending my computer in to have it worked on... as soon at I get everything backed up that is.

I do have another I can use in the mean time, but it's only temporary. So I won't be setting up my development environment on this one.

Hopefully I can get it sent off tomorrow, and they said it'll take about 2 weeks to get it back...

I still need app ideas!

Ideas

2010-03-11T10:34:00.000-05:00

I need some ideas for apps!

StarCalc is finished!

2010-03-09T15:43:00.003-05:00

This one is actually useful! Pick a planet, and it can tell you the distance to the it or the distance around it! Credit to Erik for the idea.

Also, thanks for the 8 downloads of the last app!

As before, let me know if you have any trouble.

Minor Delay

2010-03-08T13:39:00.000-05:00

App isn't ready yet... getting some weird error, plus I haven't made an icon for it yet.

Hopefully tomorrow.

Woo-Hoo!!!

2010-03-07T01:21:00.000-05:00

Thanks to this thread (found through a Google search), I'm back in business! It wasn't a problem with my installation or anything; apparently there's some retarded glitch when setting the virtual device's SD card's size to the minimum...

Anyway, it's late now; hope to have app finished and posted Monday.

Grrrr.....

2010-03-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

I was working on a new app, one that'd actually do something this time, when suddenly the emulator crashed... and now it crashes every time I try to start it! I tried completely re-installing the Android SDK to no avail... Perhaps there are some user-specific config files causing trouble? I haven't looked into that yet...

For now, all Android development has ground to a screeching halt... and I'd hoped to have the new app finished by now...

w00t! A program!

2010-03-01T16:07:00.002-05:00

Hello Android!

The cliché. The "Hello World" program.

This one comes with two small bonuses: a touch of sarcasm and a bit of redundancy.

Being an Android app, you'll naturally need to download the file from an Android phone to use it. Or load it into an Android emulator.

If you do have an Android phone, please download it (you'll have to respond to some sort of security prompt I believe) and if you have any problems, let me know in the comments!

And so it begins... more or less

2010-03-01T12:20:00.004-05:00

So, I've finally decided to start a blog.

I duno how often I'll be updating it, but I plan to record my progress learning to write programs for Google's Android platform.

A bit of personal background

I've been coding Java for a few years, got a couple books from the local library and taught myself. Haven't really made anything special, a fairly simple text-based adventure game, a small network chat app. I'm fairly familiar with the standard Java libraries.

But Android... I haven't really begun to learn that beast... I know there are major differences in the structure of the program, how it is run and managed by the OS, but I haven't researched exactly how different the libraries are from the standard.

And now...
I have also chosen to begin using Eclipse with the Android plug-in, so I'm actually faced with two challenges at once, learning both Android and Eclipse, although I doubt the later will be much trouble. Everything is installed and set-up: the tool collection is complete and in place, now I must learn to use them...