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Malik Ibrahim
2,648 PointsStuck on the knowledge needed to create desired Android app.
Hi, not sure if I should put this in Android or General Discussion. However, I'm picking Android because this mainly involves the creation of an Android app.
I joined Treehouse over the summer because I wanted to create a small project where different people I know can store stories and news through a website. Then, they would be able to access all of these on a single app. Basically, input -> website -> database -> app -> output.
The problem that I'm having is that I simply don't know what to learn exactly. I am currently taking the Android Development, but it is not very helpful at the moment as it's just information that I can't apply to an overall plan or direction.
I was wondering if anyone here had experience about apps such as this type or knew what things I need to learn. While I enjoy the wealth of information that Treehouse provides, it's not useful if I don't have an overall plan for what things to learn or a clear sense of direction.
Any help on this would be really appreciated, guys. Thanks.
3 Answers
Gunjeet Hattar
14,483 PointsHi Malik,
I guess before I could suggest something, I would like to know a little more about your background knowledge in coding. Also, given you basic idea of the app, I doubt there would be any course that could directly address your learning. You will have to to combine information from varied sources to help you get going.
If you have already taken courses like Self Destructing Message App and Blog Reader App, it should be enough to get started. However, in the meantime if I do come across any resource that matches yours I'll keep you posted
Hope that helps
Nathan Linard
2,299 PointsI agree with Hattar. I would say for the Android part of your question to go through the blog reader app project and then the self destructing message app. Then for the web base part of your app, which you are going to need if you intend on reading data from the web and then viewing it in your application I would go through the Web Design Track and then maybe(probably) the Front End Web Development track. One question I have... Is the web based part needed for your app. Is there a particular reason you want everything to be accessed through a web page. If not you can just create everything in an Android Application. But if you decide to create a web page for the post then your android app could be quite simple because you can just use a web view element in an xml file and write a little bit of code to access the correct pages to the website.
Malik Ibrahim
2,648 PointsIt's not really a web page per se. The whole idea is based around writer and readers. So, as a writer, you would go to a website. There, you would write a current story and submit it under your organization. Hypothetically, let's go with a user named Joe who writes stories for a group called "Party 1". On the website, he would write the story and then it would saved for "Party 1". The user, who could be anybody, would log on to the app on their Android and see a collection of groups such as "Party 1", "Party 3", etc. They could click on "Party 1" and then they could access the latest written by Joe under this group. It's sort of like Feedly, but the stories that you will read will be stored in one location rather than scattered through an assortment of sites.
I do presume that this would be quite simple and easy to do, no matter the technique. I'm sure many individuals and companies have done things similar to this for years. But, unfortunately, I'm a beginner who's lacking in the necessary background knowledge so I am clueless as how to achieve any of this.
Since everyone here is recommending that I should finish the Blog Reader and Self Destructing Message app first, I'll do that and see where I am from there.
Kevin Haube
12,265 PointsWhile my first suggestion is to go through the Android track as a whole, what you're looking to do uses a back end. Go through the Blog Reader and Self Destructing Message app lessons to learn how to get data and use the BaaS, Parse.com, for storage.
Malik Ibrahim
2,648 PointsHey Kevin, thank you for bringing Baas and back end services to my attention. I've heard of Parse before but I didn't know exactly where to place it in all of this. Honestly, I always assumed that its function was to provide push notification and such rather than all out storage.
Malik Ibrahim
2,648 PointsMalik Ibrahim
2,648 PointsHey Gunjeet, thank you so much for your input. I also realized that I would have to combine information from varied sources, especially since I'm working individually and not in a team. As for my background knowledge in coding, I have a somewhat basic/introductory knowledge with Java. I am actually a high school student and my introduction to programming really began with the AP course. This is why I found it easier to get into Android than, say, iOS.
I was on the Blog Reader App course. Ben Jakuben kept mentioning MySQL so I might check that out. It's been a while since I last logged on (a month) and I saw that the build a simple app course was updated. So, for the moment, I am going to retake it and start over Android development.
Once again, thank you very much for your response and taking the time to help me Gunjeet.