Android Programming Tutorials Version 2.8 Released

Part of the problem with my rush to fix Android Programming Tutorials for the Twitter authentication problem is that I could only fix the digital edition quickly. Rather than risk having a print edition that would have half its tutorials fail to run, I pulled the print edition from the shelves.

Of course, I’d like it back up there.

To that end, I am plowing ahead with more updates to the book, to get to a 3rd Edition in print later this summer.

Subscribers now have access to Android Programming Tutorials, Version 2.8. PDFs and EPUBs are available now, with as-is Kindle editions showing up hopefully within 24 hours.

This version:

  • Replaces two weak tutorials (advanced lists and creating content provdiers) with two new ones (sending SMS messages and supporting multiple device API levels)

  • The database chapter was overhauled, to get rid of the semi-object, semi-Cursor approach it had used for storing restaurants. The result is a simpler tutorial.

  • The remote services chapter was tweaked, to make it a bit of a branch off the main Patchy line. When you are done with this tutorial, the book has you return to the previous edition of your code, back when we had only a local service. This means you no longer have to maintain two separate projects going forward, cutting out some pain.

  • The notifications chapter was also rewritten, to raise a notification based on the presence of a keyword in a post, rather than dealing with tracking your followers. This too simplifies the Patchy tutorials.

Version 2.9 will follow in another couple of weeks, perhaps adding one more tutorial, plus fixing any bugs found in 2.8. Version 3.0, and the 3rd Edition in print, will follow a month or so after 2.9.