Taking it slow with learning Java / Android, but need to keep it a daily thing
I didn’t get the chance to really dig into much Android stuff today due to the fact I had so many other things to do. It’s around midnight and I feel great about how I got some life-things done (paying bills, laundry, cleaning my place, etc.), but not so great that I didn’t get a chance to spend much time on learning more about Android. Ah, it’s all good.
I did, however, watch a few videos about the how Java uses methods and events while I was doing some cardio at the gym. The video that I’m on right now in the Udacity course is called The Need for Variables and I’ll hopefully get around to that tomorrow at some point.
Not enough time, but whatevs
I didn’t get as much done today as I wanted to, but I still want to keep updating where I’m at with everything. There’s a balance of learning Java on its own and also how it’s used with Android Studio and specific to developing apps. I don’t think it’s ever a waste to learn any of it, but I want to continue to roll through the Udacity videos so I’m kept on some sort of timeline.
Here’s to another good week and getting back to my actual job at Bird. The weeks always go by fast, but before the weekend I want to be able manipulate variables and ideally pull in some sort of 3rd party data to make my apps a little more exciting. But, one step at a time. It’s going to continue to seem confusing as I take on the learning curve, but it’ll get easier soon enough.
I thought that I was going to start with this course, but it wasn’t beginner enough
I’m sitting here at Starbucks and I just downloaded the latest version of Android Studio and I’m about to start going through this free Udacity course for Android beginners (you’ll need to create an account to go to this course and others I mention later).
I have no idea where to start, things have changed a lot since I last coded up some Android stuff. I’m going to take a look at the first videos and see what’s up. But first, a coffee refill. ☕️
I just figured out that I need to do an even more beginner level course than I thought, so I’m starting with this one, which is all about building layouts (the building blocks of any Android app).
Yep, this one is really for beginners like me – it never hurts to start slow. 🙂
Also, the guy sitting across from me at this Starbucks who looks homeless has now put around 10-15 pieces of gum in his mouth since I started typing this. Annnnd one more. He’s also looking at his iPhone. Interesting.
Anyway, starting the new course. Game on.
Starting my first course
First learning about views. These are what make up everything you see on the screen. There are text, image and button views.
Now learning about XML syntax. Sweet. Starting with TextView elements / attributes.
Learning about density independent pixels that helps make elements in the app the same size / shape regardless of the actual pixels on the phone. Using 50 dp means that it will be the actual size regardless of phone.
Now learning all about how to do relative / linear views and how they both work.
Downloading Android Studio takes a little time – make sure you have the Java SDK.
Installing Android Studio. Just selected all default settings and it’s not downloading components that I need.
So far this has taken me about 90 minutes to get to this point and that’s with skipping through a lot of stuff. I could have probably got straight to this, but I think learning a bit about the views and how to make them do what I want was worth listening to / watching.
It’s installing a bunch of stuff. Just went to the bathroom here in Starbucks and it’s still got a little while to go before it’s done. I’m going to get kicked out of here in 10 minutes, so hopefully it works. Going to move next door to Vitos here in Santa Monica and transition from coffee to some beer + delicious pasts. Hells yes.
Ok, installation of Android Studio is done. Boo yah.
Now I need to figure out how to write code in this thing.
Running my first app on my phone
Now at Vito’s Pizza in Santa Monica and drinking a beer and figuring out how to put my first “Hello World!” app on my phone. Seems easy enough. Just added the developer options to my celly.
Trying to run the app, but I’m getting an error. Not sure what the hell is wrong and the Android Studio is looking so damn confusing. I’ll figure it out, but not sure how to do this. I want to get the Hello World app on my phone before I eat this delicious pasta that was just brought out to me. Must. Figure. This. Out.
Ok, figured it out and got it on my phone. Just started the entire project over.
Now wanting to do more with the app and create the first project, which is a simple birthday app with image and text views. I have to admit, the Android Studio is very intimidating, but I know I can figure it out. Just takes a little bit of time.
Working on the birthday card app and trying to get a handle on the naming structures and view types. I’m sure I’ll get used to them very quickly. The beginning is always a little intimidating. Just need to keep going.
Was having some issues getting the app to run on my phone, but just realized that I was using “relativelayout” instead of using camel type like “RelativeLayout” in the XML. Now it’s all good in the Android hood.
I was just playing with the file structures for the app that I built and deleted it all on accident. Now I’m doing it all over again, which now that I think about it is probably really good practice. Hacking together a new version right now and want to use my own stuff.
It’s almost 2am, but wanted to start up a new course. Why not?
Ok, it’s almost 2am so I’m going to call it a night. Not a bad first few hours of trying to pull this Android stuff together. Like I said, it’s going to take a while to get the hang of it, so just need to keep on cranking on it.
My goal is to touch something that has to do with Android every, single day. I need to make a habit out of it. Just like eating hummus, except writing code. Should be easy, right?
