The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development Version 5.8 Released

Subscribers now have access to the latest release of The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development, known as Version 5.8, in all formats. Just log into your Warescription page and download away, or set up an account and subscribe!

This update:

  • Adds short chapters on the Amazon Fire TV and the Nokia X series of devices, focusing on what makes development for them different than for other devices

  • Adds a dedicated chapter on design considerations for the “ten-foot UI” (televisions, monitors, etc.), to accompany the more technical coverage of the Fire TV, Google TV, Presentation and external display support, Chromecast, etc.

  • Extends the coverage of SSL

  • Adds more material on memory and CPU usage tuning, in terms of measurement and mitigation approaches

  • Updates the SQLCipher libraries to 3.1.0

  • Plus your usual round of errata fixes and the like

In terms of the next update… well… let’s let the late Rod Serling provide the introduction:

“You’re travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination - Next stop, the Twilight Zone!”

The exact timing of the next release will depend upon what happens, if anything, between now and Google I|O 2014. Some years, Google releases stuff of substance in advance of Google I|O. Some years, Google releases stuff of substance at Google I|O. Some years, nothing much happens, as was the case last year.

If something big, like a new Android release, ships significantly before Google I|O (e.g., early June), I will aim to update the book then. Otherwise, I will hold off until after Google I|O, releasing an update in early July.

Compounding the murkiness is that 2014 is the Summer of the Book Pivot. I will be updating the book over the next several months to:

  • Move most ActionBarSherlock examples to the native action bar and native fragments, and moving ActionBarSherlock out of the core chapters and into the trails alongside AppCompat

  • Add Gradle build files to the sample projects, with an eye towards allowing them to be more readily imported into Android Studio as well as be used by Eclipse as is the case today

  • Add Android Studio coverage wherever Eclipse is referenced

  • Rewrite the tutorials (again), to take into account newer programming practices, Android Studio/Gradle in addition to Eclipse, a minSdkVersion of 15, etc.

Part of this work will be done for the next version (5.9). The rest will be released with Version 6.0, tentatively slated for late August.

Enjoy!

 

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