Chapter 1, Why Java, Android, and Games?, tells us why we might choose Java, Android, and games over other languages, platforms, and types of apps. Then we quickly prepare our Android and Java development environment by installing the Java Development Kit and Android Studio.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with Android, shows us how to design, build, and run a game menu UI on a real Android device. This is the first part of our math game project.

Chapter 3, Speaking Java – Your First Game, covers the Java fundamentals and their use in an Android environment to make a simple math quiz game.

Chapter 4, Discovering Loops and Methods, contains more Java fundamentals such as decision-making and looping. Then we use them to add features to our math game. This chapter also covers some basic Android game essentials such as locking and handling screen rotation, and introduces the device sensors.

Chapter 5, Gaming and Java Essentials, takes us on a quick ride through some vital essentials for any game. We also make the UI more exciting with animation and by storing player scores. Demonstrated with a Simon-style memory game, storing the sequence with Java arrays and a for loop.

Chapter 6, OOP – Using Other People's Hard Work, is the chapter where everything you have learned so far is tied up with a pretty ribbon. You should find yourself muttering phrases like, "Oh, I see" and "So that's how it works." We explore object-oriented programming (OOP) in this chapter.

Chapter 7, Retro Squash Game, teaches us how to draw graphics pixel by pixel with the Android Canvas class. We can then combine these new skills with what we already know and make a retro, pong-style squash game.

Chapter 8, The Snake Game, covers the beginning of our most advanced game project—an animated Snake-style arcade game. We will also be able to practice more of the important Java fundamentals that you learned in the previous chapters.

Chapter 9, Making Your Game the Next Big Thing, puts the icing on the cake by teaching you how to publish your game and add online leaderboards and achievements. This will also let you examine the concept of Java libraries.

Appendix, Self-test Questions and Answers, contains all the answers to the questions to test your understanding of the topic.

You will need a modest version of Windows (XP, Vista, 7, or 8), and a Mac, Linux PC, or laptop. Both 32-bit and 64-bit systems are compatible. All of the software needed in excess of this is free and acquiring it is fully explained in the book.

This book is for you if you are completely new to any one of Java, Android, or game programming. As the book assumes no previous knowledge, it is also for you if you are new to all three (Java, Android, and game programming).

If you want to publish Android games for fun or for business and are not sure where to start, then this book will show you what to do, step by step from the start.

If you have experience in Java on another platform (perhaps PC or Mac), then this book will be a good Java refresher, and will also show you how to apply your existing skills in an Android context.

If you have previously programmed in another language but want to learn Java for any platform from the start, then you will be able to learn from this book and move through the practical examples more quickly.

The book does assume that you are fairly confident in using your operating system of choice. The step-by-step tutorials are in Windows, but if you have a decent understanding of Mac or Linux, you can probably follow along quite easily with them too.

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and explanations of their meanings.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "In the Android Studio Project Explorer, double-click on the layout folder to reveal the activity_main.xml file within it."

A block of code is set as follows:

import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

int partA = 9;
int partB = 9;
correctAnswer = partA * partB;
int wrongAnswer1 = correctAnswer - 1;
int wrongAnswer2 = correctAnswer + 1;

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

info﹕ a = 10
info﹕ b = Alan Turing
info﹕ c = true

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "When prompted to import another class, click on OK."

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To send us general feedback, simply e-mail <[email protected]>, and mention the book's title in the subject of your message.

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