No book is the product of just the author — he just happens to be the one with his name on the cover. A number of people contributed to the success of this book and it would take more space than I have to thank each one individually.

I would personally like to thank two special people who have been an inspiration and who have provided me with so much support during the writing of this book: Vivek Anantharaman, my acquisition editor, who is the reason that this book exists, for being a wonderful guide throughout this whole process, and Amey Varangaonkar for his understanding and support, as well as his brilliant suggestive approaches during the chapter rewrites. Thank you for everything, guys.

Lastly, to my reviewers: thank you so much for your valuable suggestions and improvements, making this book what it is today. I am extremely grateful to each and every one of you.

Also, thanks to the entire Packt Publishing team for working so diligently to help bring out a high-quality product. Finally, a big thank you to the engineers at Google for creating the Android platform and providing developers with the tools to create fun and sophisticated applications.

Finally, I'd like to thank all of my friends for their support, understanding, and encouragement during the writing process. It is a privilege to know each and every one of you.