CONTENTS IN DETAIL
Getting Started with App Inventor
Connecting Your Phone to the Computer
1
BUILDING APPS WITH APP INVENTOR
Programming Your App in the Blocks Editor
Laying Out “Hi, World!” in the Designer
Programming “Hi, World!” in the Blocks Editor
2
APP INVENTOR AND EVENT-DRIVEN PROGRAMMING
Building the “Practice Makes Perfect” App
Decomposing “Practice Makes Perfect”
Laying Out “Practice Makes Perfect” in the Designer
Programming “Practice Makes Perfect” in the Blocks Editor
Step 2: Opening the Video Recorder
Step 3: Choosing the Video Clip to Play
Step 4: Playing the Video Clip
3
FRUIT LOOT: CREATING A SIMPLE ANIMATED GAME
Setting Up Random Appearance, Speed, and Location
Declaring and Initializing Variables
Laying Out “Fruit Loot” in the Designer
Adding and Arranging User Interface Components
Setting Up the Canvas and ImageSprites
Adding and Preparing Non-Visible Components
Programming “Fruit Loot” in the Blocks Editor
Step 2: Making Fruit Drop at Random
Step 3: Creating More Falling Fruit and Counting Dropped Fruit
Step 4: Letting Players Move the Picker to Catch the Fruit
Step 5: Hiding Caught Fruit and Keeping Score
4
MULTIPLICATION STATION: MAKING DECISIONS WITH CODE
The Selection Control Structure
Using an if then Block in the “Fruit Loot” Game
Building the “Multiplication Station” App
Decomposing “Multiplication Station”
Laying Out “Multiplication Station” in the Designer
Programming “Multiplication Station”
Step 1: Playing the Welcome Message
Step 2: Moving to the Practice Screen
Step 3: Displaying Random Multiplication Problems
Step 5: Ending Practice and Showing the Final Score
5
BEAT THE BUS: TRACKING LOCATION WITH MAPS AND SENSORS
Building the “Beat the Bus” App
Laying Out “Beat the Bus” in the Designer
Step 1: Choosing the Phone Number to Text
Step 2: Choosing the Destination
Step 3: Starting Location Tracking
6
TIC TAC TOE: USING LOOPS TO CREATE A GAME
Building the “Tic Tac Toe” App
Laying Out “Tic Tac Toe” in the Designer
Step 1: Setting Up the Tic Tac Toe Game Board
Step 2: Responding to Player Moves
Step 3: Programming the Reset Button
7
MULTIPLICATION STATION II: REUSING CODE WITH PROCEDURES
Procedures Can Take Parameters
Building the “Multiplication Station II” App
Decomposing “Multiplication Station II”
Laying Out “Multiplication Station II” in the Designer
Programming “Multiplication Station II”
Step 1: Setting Problem Level Choices and Playing the New Welcome Message
Step 2: Stating the Number of Seconds for Each Problem and Opening the Practice Screen
Step 3: Displaying the Practice Problems
8
VIRTUAL SHADES: DRAWING AND DRAGGING IMAGES
Building the “Virtual Shades” App
Laying Out “Virtual Shades” in the Designer
Programming “Virtual Shades” in the Blocks Editor
Step 1: Setting the Selfie as the Canvas Background
Step 2: Adding Sunglasses to Choose From
Step 3: Selecting a Pair of Sunglasses to Try
Step 5: Letting Users Draw on the Canvas
Step 6: Letting Users Type on the Canvas
Step 7: Letting Users Save a Picture of the Canvas
Step 8: Letting Users Clear the Canvas
APPENDIX
APP INVENTOR COMPONENTS AND BUILT-IN BLOCKS
Drawing and Animation Components