lyoncub1028

Hello Everyone! I just have a quick question for you all.

I am going to be diving into the vast sea that is Android Application Development soon, and I am currently looking for books to help me learn. I have picked out a specific series(Beginning Android and Beginning Android Games published by APress) and the books are written for specific increments of version of Android. My question for you is, should I start using Beginning Android 2, or should I go straight to Beginning Android 4 and start writing Apps for ICS? Or, in other words, if I write an application made for Android 4, will it also work on previous versions of Android? (differences in screen size is irrelevant at this point)

Thanks and good day to all!

TN Dev

I am a new android developer as well, so take this with a grain of salt, but I believe the answer to your question depends on what devices you want to start seriously developing for. If you are planning to develop small apps as you become more advanced (like myself), then I think it is logical to start learning at SDK 2.3.3, but if you plan to acclimate yourself with the code thoroughly before releasing anything to the market and/or you plan on targeting tablets specifically, then you will likely want to allow for several months to pique the learning curve and should go ahead and learn 3.0 to 4.0... It isn't, in my opinion, an exact science, but keep in mind that the SDK is technically backwards-compatible, so you aren't hurting anything by learning an older version as long as you don't mind casting off "old" knowledge as you work your way into the newer versions.

Last edited by TN Dev; December 1st, 2011 at 10:01 AM. Reason: I'm an anal, programming nerd and changed my Post Icon because I thought this one was better. :D

ScruffyFox

I personally develop for 2.2 and above. There is currently only 1 phone running 4.0, so not much point

Kupot

Hey,

I'm also new to developing Android, currently using a Wrox Prof. Android 2 Application Development book for guidance as well as many sources that I've found online through the almighty oracle, that being Google.

You may find this of interest: Android 4.0 Upgrade: Coming Soon To Your Phone? - Mobility - Smartphones - Informationweek

In that article you see that 21 phones have Android 4.0 or are expected to receive it. If you're new to developing and dont expect to have a release for a while, 4.0 will give you the latest and greatest SDK to work with and give you time to develop a non-'outdated' app. But if you want the app to work for a broader range of phones, the earlier the SDK, the better. (hundreds of thousands have android 2.0+ phones, not many (right now) have android 4.0+ phones..)

Hope this helps!

InventorApp

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john smi

Hello your explanation is awesome man ... i am developing a mobile app as i am a beginner ... i am designing my app in eclipse with android 2.1 platform and i wanted to design an app and my first page which has a button name "scan code" and after clicking that button i want that the camera should automatically open and after i snap a picture of qr code it will be able to read that qr code and must redirect me to the specific website of the qr code ... i have no idea how to write code or how many xml or java files will be used in it ... can please you help me out and explain this process to me ... what files should i make and what codes will be used for implementing this application ... please can you help me out ... it will be a great help

alphaIII

Hi,
if you plan to develop free application, use the Android API 13 ( Android 3.2 platform )
Why? The Admob advertizing requires Android API 13+.
I started on Android 2.1 platform, then switched to Android 3.2.
I tested my app on Android 2.3.3 phone, it works fine