EKG

Hey guys. I am looking to get into developing apps for Android. It is super interesting and I think I would have a lot of fun/enjoy doing it. The only problem is that I have NO coding experience at all. I learned extremely basic HTML in a computing class I took, but even then I had almost no idea what I was doing.

I download the SDK, the ADT plug in for Eclipse, the theme packages, etc. Everything really. I went through and did the "Hello World" tut found on the Android Developers page...but even with that I learned nothing about how coding worked, just that I can open up projects and run them in an emulator.

Is experience with coding necessary to even learn how to develop Android apps? When I was searching online, the only resources I found assume a basic knowledge of coding that even I don't have.

jonbonazza

I really don't recommend just jumping into Android as your first coding endeavor. You will really want to start by getting some experience in programming in general. If your end goal is Android, then I recommend starting with Java. Go to your local book store and pick up a book on java for beginners. Once you are comfortable with programming in general (not just any particular language, but also the concepts and logic behind programming), then you should be able to easily migrate to Android development.

EKG

Android runs on Java right? So pretty much when I learn some Java I will be able to port that over?

jonbonazza

Not entirely. Android uses the java programing language, but only a subset of the standard java SDK is implemented in Android. Most of it is Google's own APIs. In fact, the way you program UI in Android is entirely different than in Java. About the only similarity is the syntax.