Android Programming Unleashed is the most comprehensive and technically sophisticated guide to best-practice Android development with today's powerful new versions of Android: 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Offering the exceptional breadth and depth developers have come to expect from the Unleashed series, it covers everything programmers need to know to develop robust, high-performance Android apps that deliver a superior user experience.   Leading developer trainer Bintu Harwani begins with basic UI controls, then progresses to more advanced topics, finally covering how to develop feature rich Android applications that can access Internet-based services and store data. He illuminates each important SDK component through complete, self-contained code examples that show developers the most effective ways to build production-ready code. Coverage includes: understanding the modern Android platform from the developer's standpoint… using widgets, containers, resources, selection widgets, dialogs, and fragments… supporting actions and persistence… incorporating menus, ActionBars, content providers, and databases… integrating media and animations… using web, map, and other services… supporting communication via messaging, contacts, and emails… publishing Android apps, and much more.

Table of Contents:
Introduction   1 Key Topics That This Book Covers   1 Key Benefits That This Book Provides   2 How This Book Is Organized   2 Code Examples for This Book   5 I: Fundamentals of Android Development 1  Introduction to Android   9 The Android 4.1 Jelly Bean SDK   9 Understanding the Android Software Stack   11 Installing the Android SDK   12   Adding Platforms and Other Components   16   Installing Eclipse   20   Installing the Android Development Tools (ADT) Plug-in   22   Making the ADT Plug-in Functional   24 Creating Android Virtual Devices   24 Creating the First Android Project   27   Laying Out the Application   31   Defining Action Code Through Java   34   Running the Application   36 Using the TextView Control   39   Assigning the Text Directly in the Layout File   39   Assigning Text Through the Activity File   40   Applying Dimensions to Controls   42   Aligning Content with the Gravity Attribute   43   Commonly Used Attributes   43 Using the Android Emulator   47   Limitations of the Android Emulator   47 The Android Debug Bridge (ADB)   48 Launching Android Applications on a Handset   50 Summary   51 2  Basic Widgets   53 Understanding the Role of Android Application Components   53 Understanding the Utility of Android API   55 Overview of the Android Project Files   57 Understanding Activities   59   Understanding the Android Activity Life Cycle   60 Role of the Android Manifest File   61   Using the Manifest Editor   64 Creating the User Interface   64 Commonly Used Layouts and Controls 66 Event Handling   67   Creating an Anonymous Inner Class   68   Activity Implementing the OnClickListener Interface   71   Declaring the Event Handler in the XML Control Definition   72 Displaying Messages Through Toast   75 Creating and Starting an Activity   76   Describing Operations Through Intent   77   Method Used to Start an Activity   77   Creating Your Own Layout File   78   Creating a New Activity   79   Registering the New Activity   80   Starting the Activity   81 Using the EditText Control   82   Attributes Used to Configure the EditText Control   82   Adding an Event Listener to the EditText Control 84 Choosing Options with CheckBox   87 Choosing Mutually Exclusive Items Using RadioButtons   91 Summary   98 II:  Building Blocks for Android Application Design 3  Laying Out Controls in Containers   101 Introduction to Layouts   101 LinearLayout   102   Applying the orientation Attribute   102   Applying the height and width Attributes   103   Applying the padding Attribute   103   Applying the weight Attribute   106   Applying the Gravity Attribute   108   Using the android:layout_gravity Attribute   109 RelativeLayout   111   Layout Control Attributes   113 AbsoluteLayout   121 Using ImageView   124 FrameLayout   125 TableLayout   129   Operations Applicable to TableLayout   129 GridLayout Layout   133   Specifying Row and Column Position   134   Spanning Rows and Columns   134   Inserting Spaces in the GridLayout   134 Adapting to Screen Orientation   138   Anchoring Controls   138   Defining Layout for Each Mode   140 Summary   145 4  Utilizing Resources and Media   147 Resources   147   Types of Resources   148 Creating Values Resources   150   Dimension Resources    153   Color Resources   156   Styles and Themes   159   Applying Themes   162   Arrays   165 Using Drawable Resources   170 Switching States with Toggle Buttons   174 Creating an Image Switcher Application   179 Scrolling Through ScrollView   183   Use of the android:fillViewport Attribute   185 Playing Audio   186   Adding Audio to the Application   187 Playing Video   195   Loading Video onto an SD Card   195 Displaying Progress with ProgressBar   199 Using Assets   204 Summary   207 5  Using Selection Widgets and Debugging   209 Using ListView    209   Creating a ListView with an Activity Base Class   211   Creating ListView by Extending ListActivity   217 Using the Spinner Control   220   Populating a Spinner Through Resources   220   Populating a Spinner Through ArrayAdapter   223   AutoCompleteTextView   225 Using the GridView Control   227   GridView Attributes   228   Displaying Images in GridView   231 Creating an Image Gallery Using the ViewPager Control   235 Using the Debugging Tool: Dalvik Debug Monitor Service (DDMS)   239 Debugging Applications   245   Placing Breakpoints in an Application   245 Using the Debug Perspective   247   Debug Pane   248   Expressions Pane   249   Breakpoints Pane   250   Variables Pane   254   Adding Logging Support to Android Applications   255 Summary   256 6  Displaying and Fetching Information Using Dialogs and Fragments   259 What Are Dialogs?   259   AlertDialog   261   Methods of the AlertDialog.Builder Subclass   261   Getting Input via the Dialog Box   264   DatePickerDialog   267   TimePickerDialog   271 Selecting the Date and Time in One Application   275 Fragments   282   The Structure of a Fragment   282   The Life Cycle of a Fragment   282 Creating Fragments with Java Code   294   FragmentManager   294   Communicating Between Fragments   296   Navigating to Previous Fragments   296   Retrieving Content Passed Through Bundle   297   Saving and Restoring the State of Fragments   297 Creating Special Fragments   301   Creating a ListFragment   301   Using a DialogFragment   305   Using PreferenceFragment   311 Summary   319 III:  Building Menus and Storing Data 7  Creating Interactive Menus and ActionBars   323 Menus and Their Types   323 Creating Menus Through XML   324   Creating an Options Menu   325   Adding Submenus   332   Creating a Context Menu   336 Creating Menus Through Coding   345   Defining Options Menus   345   Creating Submenus   346   Trying It Out   349 Applying a Context Menu to a ListView   354 Using the ActionBar   358   Enabling the ActionBar   360   Using an Application’s Icon for Navigation   361   Displaying Action Items   362 Replacing a Menu with the ActionBar   370 Creating a Tabbed ActionBar   377 Creating a Drop-Down List ActionBar   380 Summary   384 8  Using Databases   385 Using the SQLiteOpenHelper Class   385   Building an SQLite Project   386   Fetching the Desired Rows from Tables   391   Using Cursors   392 Accessing Databases with the ADB   394   Accessing the Database Through Menus   398 Creating a Data Entry Form   401   Displaying Table Rows Via ListView   410 Summary   417 IV:  Advanced Android Programming: Internet, Entertainment, and Services 9  Implementing Drawing and Animation   421 Drawing on the Screen   421   Using Canvas and Paint   421   Using Gradients   436 Animations   445   Understanding Frame-by-Frame Animation   446   Understanding Tweening Animation   453 Applying Interpolators   471 Summary   472 10  Displaying Web Pages and Maps   473 Displaying Web Pages   473   Enabling JavaScript   477   Handling Page Navigation   477   Adding Permission for Internet Access   478 Using the WebViewClient Class   480 Using Google Maps   483   Obtaining a Google Maps API Key   483   Installing the Google API   484   AVDs for Map-Based Applications   485   Creating a Google Maps-Based Application   486   Using Location-Based Services   490   Supplying Latitude and Longitude Values Through DDMS   494   Sending GPS Locations Manually   495   Passing Locations in GPX/KML Format   496   Displaying Map Locations   496   Printing the GPS Location Address   502   Displaying Map Markers   507   Using ItemizedOverlay 511 Summary   516 11  Communicating with SMS and Emails   517 Understanding Broadcast Receivers   517   Broadcasting an Intent   518   Receiving the Broadcast Intent   519 Using the Notification System   523   Notification via the Status Bar   523 Sending SMS Messages with Java Code   531   Getting Permission to Send SMS Messages   534   Writing Java Code   534 Receiving SMS Messages   541 Sending Email   546 Working with the Telephony Manager 553   Making the Outgoing Call   553   Listening for Phone State Changes   554 Summary   558 12  Creating and Using Content Providers   559 What Is a Content Provider   559 Understanding the Android Content URI   560 Using Content Providers   561 Creating a Custom Content Provider   566   Defining a Content Provider   566   Defining a Database   568   Defining the Content URI   569   Defining MIME Types   570   Implementing the getType, query, insert, update, and delete Methods   571   Registering Content Providers   587 Summary   589 13  Creating and Consuming Services   591 Moving Tasks to Background Threads   591   Using the Handler Class   592   Using the AsyncTask Class   594 Accessing Data from the Internet   598   Consuming SOAP Services   602 Creating a Service   607   Interacting with the Service   611 Creating a Bound Service   614 Setting Up Alarms   619   Setting Repeating Alarms   620   Setting Up the Time for the Alarm   620 Using Sensors   626 Summary   631 14  Publishing Android Applications   633 Setting Versioning Information of an Application   633 Generating a Certificate, Digitally Signing the Android Applications, and Generating the APK   636   Signing Applications Using the Export Android Application Wizard   637 Distributing Applications with Google Play   638   Getting Started with Google Play   639   Localizing Android Applications   641   Monetizing Our Applications   642 Summary   642 Index   643