Android Programming Tutorials Version 3.9 Released

Subscribers now have access to the latest release of Android Programming Tutorials, known as Version 3.9. EPUBs and Kindle editions are ready as I write this, and about half the PDFs are ready, with the balance ready in an hour or so.

This update adds 60 or so pages, almost exclusively dedicated to Eclipse-specific instructions for accomplishing the tutorials.

The original instructions are still there. However, pointers to Eclipse graphical editors for the manifest, layouts, and various other resources are also included. Particular emphasis was placed on the drag-and-drop work to create the UI.

The Eclipse coverage is not without its warts. In the interests of time, I kept the original instructions intact and just created parallel Eclipse instructions. Alas, some of the UI choices do not work well with the current edition of the drag-and-drop tools. So, there are a few places where Eclipse users will still need to mess with the XML. Sometime in the 4.x versions, I will redo select portions of the UI to allow for better drag-and-drop generation.

The book jumped to Version 3.9 largely due to an issue with Amazon.com. For unknown reasons, they are not working as well with my prior printing house and distributor for print editions. As a result, the 3rd Edition of this title shows up as “ships in 2-3 weeks”, even though it should actually ship much faster than that. I have to switch printers to rectify this, and that is easier to do when I update the print version itself. So, in late September, this book will move to Version 4.0, with a 4th Edition coming out in print shortly thereafter.

If you encounter any issues with the samples in the book, please post your problems to StackOverflow with the commonsware tag, and I’ll get back to you ASAP.