Calling for More Android Developer Support Sites
About seven months ago, I launched AndGlobe, a site to collect the names and links to Android developer support sites. Here, “support sites” are defined as forums for asking questions and getting answers.
In particular, AndGlobe is designed to highlight sites that offer support in languages other than English. Android development has gotten too large to expect everyone trying to write Android apps to have as solid of a grasp of English as they do Java.
Non-English support sites help in two ways:
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They provide a place for non-native English speakers to ask questions in a language that is more comfortable for them, resulting (hopefully) in better questions and better discussion to refine and answer those questions.
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For questions that one of these communities cannot answer on its own, the community can serve as a “springboard” for asking the question elsewhere, such as on StackOverflow. If desired, the community can, in effect, ask the question elsewhere, pooling their skills in other languages, rather than necessarily limiting it to the skills of the original person with the question.
So far, AndGlobe has links to 19 non-English support sites, which is wonderful. However, the language range could use more breadth. For example, I have no links to sites in languages native to Korea, China, or India, and I have only one Japanese-language site. I have no links to sites in Arabic, and only one in Hebrew. I have some Russian sites, but little else from eastern Europe. And so on.
Please, if you know of question-and-answer Android development sites, beyond the ones already listed at http://www.andglobe.com, let me know about them! As is outlined on the GitHub repo for this data, there are several ways to send me updates:
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Send a GitHub pull request
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File an issue with the language, name, and URL
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Send an email to globaldev@commonsware.com with the language, name, and URL
According to industry analysts, sometime in 2014, there will be more Android devices in use worldwide than Windows machines. A global user community needs a global developer base, and a global developer base needs multi-lingual developer support.
Thanks in advance!
