Book Image

Android Programming for Beginners - Third Edition

By : John Horton
Book Image

Android Programming for Beginners - Third Edition

By: John Horton

Overview of this book

Do you want to make a career in programming but don’t know where to start? Do you have a great idea for an app but don't know how to make it a reality? Or are you worried that you’ll have to learn Java programming to become an Android developer? Look no further! This new and expanded third edition of Android Programming for Beginners will be your guide to creating Android applications from scratch. The book starts by introducing you to all the fundamental concepts of programming in an Android context, from the basics of Java to working with the Android API. You’ll learn with the help of examples that use up-to-date API classes and are created within Android Studio, the official Android development environment that helps supercharge your mobile application development process. After a crash course on the key programming concepts, you’ll explore Android programming and get to grips with creating applications with a professional-standard UI using fragments and storing user data with SQLite. This Android Java book also shows you how you can make your apps multilingual, draw on the screen with a finger, and work with graphics, sound, and animations. By the end of this Android programming book, you'll be ready to start building your own custom applications in Android and Java.
Table of Contents (30 chapters)

Chapter 4: Getting Started with Layouts and Material Design

We have already seen the Android Studio user interface (UI) designer, as well as Java, in action. In this hands-on chapter, we will build three more layouts—still quite simple, yet a step up from what we have done so far.

Before we get to the hands-on part, we will have a quick introduction to the concept of Material Design.

We will see another type of layout called LinearLayout, and step through using it to create a usable UI. We will take things a step further using ConstraintLayout, both with understanding constraints and with designing more complex and precise UI designs. Finally, we will meet TableLayout, for laying out data in an easily readable table.

We will also write some Java code to switch between different layouts within our app/project. This is the first major app that links together multiple topics into one neat parcel. The app is called Exploring Layouts.

In this chapter, we will look at...