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Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherStudent feedback for upcoming Android course
Hello Android students!
As I gear up for the next Android courses (the Android version of Ribbit), I wanted to solicit feedback from those of you who have watched any Android videos from our library. I can't promise to implement every recommendation, but I can promise to mull them over and think about how best to serve up this content for you!
So please reply with constructive criticism and suggestions and let's get a good discussion going. I'm so excited to beef up our Android content!
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherThanks for the feedback! We have talked a lot internally about how long videos/stages/projects should be, and it's good to hear that I'm finding a good balance.
mike smith
2,007 PointsHi Ben,
When will the Android Ribbit course be available?
8 Answers
Steven Fennell
2,103 PointsI’ve been through the first Android course and am working on the second one; have not taken Android training outside Treehouse. So far I have really enjoyed the pace and format of videos, they are spot on for helping to bring a novice up to speed with concepts and paths forward. In my opinion just maintain what you’ve been doing.
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherSo glad to hear it - thanks for replying!
Daniel Vittorio
1,207 PointsPerfect timing! I just finished the 2nd Android course.
First of all, well done! I've learned much more here than I have with my Master's level classes.
I did however hit a bit of a wall about 2/3 of the way into the 2nd project. I was having a hard time absorbing enough details from the videos to pass the code challenges and had to use the forum for answers as once you start a code challenge you seem to be trapped in it. I was mirroring everything you were doing in Eclipse myself so I would have notes on what we did, but this made the course a bit too fast paced for me to go back and forth and the code challenges don't always line up exactly with that we did. I'm going to go back and re-watch all the videos with my full attention on just them, but it perhaps would be nice if there were additional resources to reflect back on what we did, either in the course or in the code challenges.
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherGreat feedback - thank you! I do try to stretch the concepts just a little in the Code Challenges as I think it's a good place to practice and maybe even learn something new.
I think the biggest improvement we can make to Code Challenges is getting compiler feedback back to you. Right now our error messaging is limited, which doesn't reflect how things are when you are working in Eclipse. Amit has done some work on this for the iOS Code Challenges and I will be reviewing it to see if I can port it for Android.
Jaime Reynoso
5,842 PointsI'm going through the second one, and i cant seem to get the listview to update. I looked at your code, and I don't know where I went wrong. I'm going to go through the video again, but I think the way they're set up is ideal and I can't wait to see more android content.
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherThanks for the feedback! If you are still having trouble, please post a new question with code here in the Forum or email us at help@teamtreehouse.com. :)
afrin rahman
3,175 PointsI've finished both of the projects and trying to implement the knowledge by developing some apps. But I feel that its not enough. I have to learn more things. So I'm eagerly waiting for the android version of Ribbit.
And I also want to make a request for a course on implementing Google Maps API (latest version). I'm really enthusiastic about learning and making android map apps. I'm trying to study about it from different sources, but it would be a lot easier if Treehouse makes this kind of course.
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherThanks for the feedback! It's good to know that Google Maps API is in demand because I do want to cover that soon. It won't be part of Ribbit, but I might plan a workshop around it to get something available on the site sooner than a full project would allow.
Daniel Vittorio
1,207 PointsI got my "foot in the door" learning how to use Google's APIs by integrating a 3rd party SDK into my project. I used a service called Scringo. It allows you to use in-app social features & they have an addon called Radar that uses the google maps API & another for push notifications. Between the resources on the scringo website and the Buzztouch youtube videos I managed to pull it off.
One hint on where I got stuck.. When adding certificate fingerprints you need two. One from the computer that you use to do your development on, and another from the certificate you use to sign & publish your app.
Dan Giles
2,243 PointsI have integrated a few Google Map pages into the App I'm building; it can definitely be challenging to figure everything out (especially if you need to start using geocoding). It definitely would have helped to have a Treehouse course to get me started in it first, though there is so much to cover in the API that I guess the course will probably only be able to cover the basics.
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherI've done a bit with Maps and think we could build a meaty project around it. Location in general seems like a helpful topic: it's high on my list. Thanks for chiming in!
Dan Giles
2,243 PointsThat would be great Ben; mapping seems a popular topic so I'm sure that course would be watched often.
One of the problems I'm dealing with now is a "nearest neighbor" problem. I.e. I have a database with several hundred to several thousand locations, each of which has its latitude/longitude stored (went through a geotagging process earlier). The user enters an address (or uses current location); now go through the db and find all the locations within a specified distance from the user's location. Conceptually simple, but actual implementation is pretty challenging!
Yuval Keren
7,190 PointsThe following topics will be very useful for an Android app developer: SQLite or - how to manage local Data ? Integration with 3rd party Data saving sources like Dropbox / Google drive etc...
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherGreat topics. Would you prefer a project that uses one or two things like that, or a more focused collection of badges that cover data storage and persistence in detail?
Yuval Keren
7,190 PointsBoth are valid, my preference is a project :-)
Dan Giles
2,243 PointsI agree; SQLite, managing local data storage, CursorAdapter would be great.
GAUTHAM RAVI PRAKASH
2,164 PointsHi Ben,
I finished creating both the apps and they work just fine. Thanks a ton for all the android videos !!! I was just wondering if you could post some more videos on AsyncTask threading and the other kinds of threading like Handlers and FixedThreadPool, as well as JSON and XML parsing in order to get a better understanding of these concepts. Thanks...
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherThanks for the feedback! We will cover AsyncTask some more in the upcoming "Build a Self-Destructing Message App" project, and I'll add your other ideas to my list of topics.
GAUTHAM RAVI PRAKASH
2,164 PointsAlright...thanks again !
Mpumelelo Ndelu
1,100 PointsHi Ben,
Re: Build a Self-Destructing Message iPhone App
I have just completed the App and tried to submit it to the App Store for the first time and it was rejected for the following reasons:
2.2 We found that your app exhibited one or more bugs, when reviewed on iPhone 5s running iOS 7.0.4, on both Wi-Fi and cellular networks, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines: - Specifically, the recipient does not receive a photo.
I am not sure what this meant.
Can you assist?
mike smith
2,007 PointsHi Ben,
When will the android Ribbit course be available?
Ben Jakuben
Treehouse TeacherWe're putting the finishing touches on it this week--should be available next Wednesday! :) http://teamtreehouse.com/roadmap
mike smith
2,007 PointsOK great! Looking forward to it.
Paul Panayotou
5,001 PointsPaul Panayotou
5,001 PointsI really like the length of the videos and the badges, so please don't change them too much. I think they're just long enough to keep one motivated as we make progress. Also, the extra credit isn't too difficult to manage. Overall, great job! Very difficult to think of improvements. Change for the sake of change is a recipe for failure!