Announcements

Office hours for the week of 11/15 to 11/19 are as follows:

Assignment 3 has been released.

Assignment 2 has been released.

Assignment 1 has been released.

 

Description

A rapid introduction to developing applications for mobile platforms, using the Android platform. Covers mobile user interface design, methods for storing and retrieving information, Internet communication, multimedia and mobile security. Aimed at students with moderate Java experience, at least at the level of CS 2110.

This is a four-week, 1-credit, S/U only course.

 

Logistics

Time: MWF 12:20-1:10 PM, 10/18-11/12
Location: Upson 207

Instructor:
Jeff Davidson
jpd236@cornell.edu
Office Hours: MW 1:15-2:15 PM, Upson 360, or by appointment.

TA:
Jae Yong Sung
js946@cornell.edu
Office Hours: F 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Upson 328B, Bay D.

 

Format

This course will emphasize learning about the Android platform through hands-on exercises. One lab lecture will take place early in the semester, in which students will get acquainted with Android development and learn about debugging and testing on this platform. Students will also build a complete Android application from scratch in the process of completing three homework assignments, each of which builds upon previous work. We will use Eclipse for development and the Android emulator to run and test applications.

Satisfactory completion of the lab work and assignments, along with participation in class and on the class newsgroup, will suffice to earn a passing grade. In addition, for motivated students who wish to delve deeper into the Android platform, each assignment will have additional components designed to provide more of a challenge and to expose a broader view of Android's capabilities.

Grading will be as follows:

A grade of 60% or higher is required to pass the course.

 

Intro of the Day

Four weeks is a very limited time to explore the Android platform. The goal in this course is to provide enough of an introduction to the basics of Android to help students develop relatively simple applications, while providing enough of an introduction to more advanced topics that students will know the capabilities of Android and where to look when they need to use a certain feature.

As such, most lectures will begin with a 5-10 minute introduction of a more advanced Android topic. This material will not be required to complete any assignment (with the possible exception of challenge problems), but it is strongly encouraged that students pay close attention to these introductions.

Planned topics include:

 

Reading

Generally, each lecture will be accompanied with links to online resources and references. It is recommended that you read these pages and reference them while completing your homework.

No textbook is required for this course. If you find that you need more material to supplement what is taught in the classroom, I recommend Ed Burnette's Hello, Android as an introduction, or Reto Meier's Professional Android 2 Application Development for a deeper look.