How I am Learning Android Programming
933750
I am already a Java programmer, and this book assumes you have experience.  At 268 pages, don't expect to learn Java from it.  That said, it does start out with both an overview of Android and Java, each receiving its own chapter.  The third chapter also takes you through the ins and outs of setting up an Android development environment.

This books takes you through building your own Twitter-like client, using Eclipse (the standard among seasoned Java developers).

This book is up-to-date, being published in January 2014.

Overall, I like this book.  It is a typical O'Reilly book, being both terse yet informative.  If you have experience with O'Reilly books, you probably are on one side of the love/hate fence, so keep that in mind.  If you are new to Java, you should start with a Java book before jumping into Android programming.  In addition, to become an experienced Android developer, you'll probably need more than this book provides.  That is not meant to be a derogatory remark in any way.  This book is highly focused and achieves that focus nicely.
3808967
The book is fantastic if you're trying to learn Android Programming. As the name suggests, you surely will learn in one day! Of course you won't be a master, but you will definitely know what you're doing from only a couple hours of work! This is a great starter book for anyone interested in app developing and it will surely save you a lot of money!
1614708
I am a developer with a lot of years of experience, and I can tell you: It could be a easier book to read and practice with it. In an nutshell: it is not the best book to learn Android as developer.
2619086
I recently upgraded my Blackberry Storm to a Droid X which runs the Android software. I downloaded many apps and thought "I bet I could create one of these apps" and that same day I came across this book. Great, just what I needed, another project.

The book is broken down in 24 one hour chapters. Each progressing a step further into writing a simple app. I read through the whole book and then went back and am now progressing through each step towards writing my first Android app. The first step is downloading all the software you will need to create the app.

I am not a programmer, but I have written more than a few programs. Mainly automated trading programs in Excel and Easy Language (Tradestation) I have some basic Java experience, but did a few google searches to brush up on Java. So far I have not run into any roadblocks with this book or my attempt to program an Android app.

So far this book is a great introduction to Android development.
4814970
I can't figure out another way to describe what programming with App Inventor looks like, but this parody of the old adage: An image is worth a thousand lines of code.

For a veteran (aka old) programmer, whom started programming during the dark times of the punched cards, App Inventor is some kind of magic. By that times, I learned to draw flow charts of any algorithm and then convert it to a program writing a lot of lines of code, taking care of very strict syntax rules. Now, I'm astonished to find out that in App Inventor you just draw something very similar to this flow chart and run your application.

Even though I've been using modern programming languages for a while, I've not even imagined anything similar to the way you develop a powerful application with App Inventor. It's incredible how easy you can interface with every function or sensor of your Android device.

Now let's give some credit to Mr. Kloss's "Android Apps with App Inventor". The book is very easy to understand. Takes you from the classic simple "Hello World" (actually Hello Android World) to very powerful applications such as an Android Car Assistant that can read aloud emails and/or SMS messages, and even auto answer them with predefined or dictated text and including your geo location gotten from the device GPS.

The examples on the book are very easy to understand, and you can choose from create yourself the application from scratch, following the detailed instructions, or download it from the book companion web site.

Sure I recommend App Inventor to everyone interested on learning how to develop Android applications... and recommend Jrg Kloss's book to everyone interested on learning App Inventor.
4873335
I've found this an excellent introduction to Android for someone who already knows Java.  Specifically, I've found the chapters building up a Sudoku application to be very useful.  The classes and methods are clear, and the author generally provides the right amount of commentary.  In the few cases where something isn't clear, one can go to the forum, where the author quickly responds to questions, making the book even more valuable.  All of the code is available online, which I've found useful as well.

I have some quibbles with the programming style, such as the embedding of magic numbers, but these are minor.  Potential buyers should be aware that this is not a complete guide to Android.  For example, there is very little about concurrency, with no mention of AsyncTask, for example.  Still, I would recommend it as a very reasonably priced, well written, first book on Android.

Update: I recommended this book to students when teaching an upper-division college course on mobile application development.  Students found it so valuable that they told me I should make it required the next time I teach the course.  I've never been told that about any other book.
162091
There's nothing really earth shattering in this book, alot of the tips I already knew, but if you're new to android this would definitely help you out.
2159069
This book has been very good helping me run my Galaxy S7,  showing me not only how to do something but what to do if it doesn't work.  It covers a wide range of topics and it even lists some apps that are great to use.  I do learn by just playing with the phone but I like to know what I should do and why that is why I like books to help me along while learning a new piece of technology.
1261793
If you're comfortable programming in java, this book is the boost you need to get involved with Android development. For someone who has little or no experience developing mobile applications, or working with some features of Android such as XML layout templates, getting into Android can be a lot to jump into.

This book does a great job at easing you into Android development, but at the same time gets right to the point. It includes instructions on how to set up your development environment, including specific settings for each example (if any). The code examples in the book are very useful and practical, helping to demonstrate the ins and outs of the different features the Android OS has to offer.
793473
Learning Android by Marko Gargenta is a well-written guide for getting started developing Android applications. It is targeted at programmers that have some level of Java development experience, but you need not be a Java expert by any stretch to make good use of this book. As long has you have a fundamental understanding of Java programming, this book will serve as a great guide to developing Android applications.

Even though many more advanced developers will not need the opening sections on choosing a development environment, these sections should be read by all. The information it contains on making your development environment efficient, and avoiding some frustrating pitfalls that can hamper even experienced developers is invaluable.

The book does a great job of explaining the architecture and workings of the Android environment without getting sidetracked or being too technical. This straightforward approach to explaining the key concepts of the operating system and how it interacts with applications makes this book an invaluable reference for any programming working in the Android environment.

The most helpful feature of the book is that it walks through developing a Twitter client application from concept to completion using practical software development techniques. You not only get the benefit of learning how to develop a robust Android application, but you learn to use iterative development to construct and improve an application.

Marko Gargenta provides an amazing book that allows you to learn how to build Android applications while also learning how to make use of modern software development practices. This book is a must read for anyone wanting to develop and market Android applications.
3993888
When I saw preview copies of this book being offered, I jumped at the chance!  As an experienced Android SDK developer with a background as a professional C/C++ developer, this is a topic I want to learn more about.  I've only just opened the book, so these are my initial thoughts and I will post an update when I complete the book.

The book starts with an introduction to the NDK and walks the user through setting up the environment.  Even though I've already worked with the NDK, I still found good information in the first chapter.  Remember, the NDK isn't for everything and the author explains the pros and cons of NDK development.  There are not many chapters in the book, as this gives the author plenty of opportunity to go in depth on the topics.  If the first chapter is representative of the rest of the book, this is going to be time well spent.
3042546
If you're new to mobile development or new to cell phone development, The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development will get you started fast.  It covers all of the basics, and gets you far enough to be able to be productive using Google's documentation.  What more could you ask?
3076210
This book has just about everything you need to know about using an Android Tablet. When I first bought the Tablet I got this book from the library. I found it so helpful that I bought it.
3056030
This book contains so much information on Android along with some code that you can use when developing your applications. I love this book and ever since I got it I have not been able to put it down because of the amount of useful information I find in this book. It picks up right where Introduction to Android Application Development left off and does so in spectacular fashion. This book also will tell you how to set up your development in Android Studio and use it in almost every way to make great applications. There really is more that I want to add here but I'm going to keep it simple and end this review by saying that if you want an amazing book that shows you the ins and outs of Android as well as help you prepare for future releases of Android, I highly recommend that you pick up this book because you won't be disappointed.
4186737
I've been using Android since the very first T-Mobile G1 and the Droid 2 is my third Android phone. Despite my years of experience with Android, I learned a few things from the book, especially on how best to use the voice recognition features (e.g., double-tap the Home button to get instant access to voice commands) and on keyboard shortcuts (Search-B calls up the browser; Search-G zaps you into Gmail).

There is a great section on using the Droid 2 as a music player.

A lot of the software that people want or need to use with Android is not available for the Macintosh operating system. The author does a great job of suggesting work-arounds for Macintosh owners.

The book is essentially for anyone new to Android and, due to its easy-to-skim design, valuable for experienced Android/Droid 2 users. Well worth the modest Amazon discounted price.
202678
I am a Java programmer and this book is not something in which you can use alone
to learn to begin Android programming.  It gives examples and a brief outline of
ways you can program, but you have to do your own research to actually learn
how to program in Android.  Pretty much you have to figure it out yourself.
2150924
This book was a good intro into programing for Android. It's already outdated as it focuses on version 2.3 gingerbread for phones and 3.1 honeycomb for tablets. The author leans heavily on GUI use and auto-completion, so I don't feel like I'll retain much information.

As the book is just an introduction I feel like it's ending too soon. I'd like to learn more practical things next.