Book Image

Learning Java by Building Android Games

By : John Horton
Book Image

Learning Java by Building Android Games

By: John Horton

Overview of this book

Related Content you might be interested in

Current Title:

Small book image
Learning Java by Building Android Games
John Horton
Jan, 2015 | 392 pages
Small book image
Android Programming for Beginners
John Horton
Dec, 2015 | 698 pages
Small book image
Android Programming for Beginners
John Horton
Oct, 2018 | 766 pages
Small book image
Android Programming for Beginners
John Horton
Apr, 2021 | 742 pages
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Learning Java by Building Android Games
Learning Java by Building Android Games
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Why Java, Android, and Games?
Why Java, Android, and Games?
Is this book for me?
Why build games to learn to program?
Why Android and Java?
Setting up our development environment
Summary
2
Getting Started with Android
Getting Started with Android
Our first game project
Exploring Android Studio
Using the Android Studio visual designer
Structuring our code for Android
Our first look at Java
Building and installing our game
Self-test questions
Summary
3
Speaking Java – Your First Game
Speaking Java – Your First Game
Java syntax
Storing data and using it with variables
Expressing yourself in Java
Math game – asking a question
Decisions in Java
Math game – getting and checking the answer
Self-test questions
Summary
4
Discovering Loops and Methods
Discovering Loops and Methods
Looping with loops
Methods
Enhancing our math game
Finishing touches
Self-test questions
Summary
5
Gaming and Java Essentials
Gaming and Java Essentials
Java arrays – an array of variables
Timing with threads
Beeps n buzzes – Android sound
Life after destruction – persistence
The memory game
Self-test questions
Summary
6
OOP – Using Other People's Hard Work
OOP – Using Other People's Hard Work
What is OOP?
Our first class and first object
Encapsulation
Inheritance
Polymorphism
More about OOP and classes
Self-test questions
Summary
7
Retro Squash Game
Retro Squash Game
Drawing with Android Canvas
Android Canvas demo app
Detecting touches on the screen
Preparing to make the retro squash game
The four implementation phases in detail
Self-test questions
Summary
8
The Snake Game
The Snake Game
Game design
The coordinate system
The code structure
Animation, sprite sheets, and the Snake home screen
Implementing the Snake game activity
Enhancing the game
Self-test questions
Summary
9
Making Your Game the Next Big Thing
Making Your Game the Next Big Thing
How to publish your app
Marketing your app
Adding leaderboards and achievements
What next?
Self-test questions
Summary
Self-test Questions and Answers
Self-test Questions and Answers
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Index
Index

Our first game project

Now we will get straight down to actually doing something with Android Studio. Run Android Studio by double-clicking on the Android Studio icon either on your desktop's start menu or in the folder where you installed it.

Note

If you get any errors in a dialog box mentioning Privilege elevation, then try running Android Studio with administrator privileges. To do this, find the Android Studio icon by clicking on the Windows Start button and searching for Android Studio. Now right-click on the icon and click on Run as administrator. Do this every time you run Android Studio.

Preparing Android Studio

So with Android Studio and Java installed, we just need to add the latest versions of the Android API that we will use to make our first game. Here is what to do to install the API:

  1. From the menu bar at the top of the Android Studio UI, navigate to Tools | Android | SDK Manager. Scroll down in the Android SDK Manager window and select the checkbox for Android 4.4.2 (API 19).

    Note...

Previous Section
End of Section 2
Next Section