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Android

Posted by Ian - PortalPacific
Ian - PortalPacific
Courses Plus Student 3,518 Points

What is this crystal ball thing and I never learned question 4.

So yeah the question asks to use Log.d() which i dont remember doing in the "build a simple app" where we built the random facts app.

It brought up something about about crystal ball app but i never did that one and this was the suggested next class?

How do i get past question 4? I figured the others out pretty easily due to the "build simple app" course. Should I do the crystal ball one first? wheres that?

Also I have been having some trouble understanding the complete relationship between all the syntax? what languages should i be studying exactly? Just Java or?

1 Answer

Kristen Law
Kristen Law
16,244 Points

Log.d() was taught in The Android Log video under Testing and Debugging in the "Build a Simple App" course. If you jump to around 2:15, you can see Ben implement it in the code.

It's not necessary for you to take the course that creates the Crystal Ball app, as it teaches pretty much the same thing. It was the previous "Build a Simple App" course that was replaced by the course that you took. The course you took is like the updated version of that course, and it uses the latest version of Android and the developer tools. However, if you do want to look at it, I think you can find it in the Library. It's named "Build a Simple App (to be retired)".

Ian - PortalPacific
Ian - PortalPacific
Courses Plus Student 3,518 Points

Oh okay great! Thanks so much! I'll review the Log.d() part of build a simple app course thanks!!

Also do you have any insight on my last paragraph? Are there any books you would suggest to speed up the process of understanding the syntax, etc?

Kristen Law
Kristen Law
16,244 Points

I was in the middle of typing this out when you posted:

Just noticed I didn't answer your last question. Java is the main language used for Android development. However, you've probably noticed that some of the files (such as the layout files) use XML, which is short for Extensible Markup Language. XML is not really a programming language, but it is something called a markup language. You don't really need to know much XML, but you should at least understand the basic syntax.

Unfortunately, I don't have any books to recommend since I didn't learn Java out of a book. However, a quick google search led me to this: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/91629/best-java-book-you-have-read-so-far. Maybe if you make a new post to the forum, you'll be able to get more input on what books are helpful. Good luck!