1.12. Wrap-Up

This chapter presented a brief history of Android and discussed its functionality. We provided links to some of the key online documentation and to the newsgroups and forums you can use to connect with the developer community. We discussed features of the Android operating system and provided links to some popular free and fee-based apps on Google Play. We introduced the Java, Android and Google packages that enable you to use the hardware and software functionality you’ll need to build a variety of Android apps. You’ll use many of these packages in this book. We also discussed Java programming and the Android SDK. You learned the Android gestures and how to perform each on an Android device and on the emulator. We provided a quick refresher on basic object-technology concepts, including classes, objects, attributes and behaviors. You test-drove the Doodlz app on the Android emulator for both smartphone and tablet AVDs. In the next chapter, you’ll build your first Android app using only visual programming techniques. The app will display text and two images. You’ll also learn about Android accessibility and internationalization.