Android Programming for Beginners: Learn All the Java and Android Skills You Need to Start Making Powerful Mobile Applications

John Horton describes exactly how to write for Android and Java without throwing masses of unintelligible buzzwords at you. Each stage is carefully and easily explained and each new concept and word is explained in plain english. This does not mean that he doesn't teach in depth but only that he introduces the ideas as you need them to understand what you are doing. I have read and tried to follow many books and videos on android and John Hortons books have taught me more than any of the others.

TLDR: Outdated. Not for beginners. You need a strong grasp of Java first! The book may have some value, but you're better off picking up a book that covers constraint layouts instead of relative ones as that is what is in demand by companies.The book is a good resource for people to learn android development. However, due to the book's outdated nature, I can't say I'd recommend this book to beginners. This book assumes you know the core basics of java to some degree. However, I'd recommend a strong grasp of Java first. This is due to most of the Java methods this book uses being outdated, and deprecated. Some of the user interface elements are deprecated as well.

The instructions in the book eventually differ from the latest Android studio so significantly that one is unable to follow along. Extremely good writing style, just needs updated.

Was easy to read, book in perfect condition but could not get any help from writer or PAKT with programming string errors, and was not able to complete programs past chapter 2 do to lack of help.

Probably worked great with the previous version of Android Studio.

Going through this book has taught be a lot about android developement, I look forward to finishing the book and expanding my knowledge on the subject

The important parts are rushed specially after the download and it is out of date

good book

I am only about half way through this book as I now know enough to get started on my own project. At first I was a bit concerned, as the version of Android Studio for which the book was written has evidently been superseded, and the information in the book didn't match what was on the screen in my version of Studio. However, I think this actually helps your learning, as you have to really get into the subject to work out how things work and how you do the same thing in the new version. The most important thing John Horton achieves is to get you started with an app that works. Once you have that you can build on it, extend it, experiment to your hearts content. Definitely worth joining the Stack Overflow internet group, as every problem you come against will have a solution somewhere. I am an old programmer (I'm talking 1970's machine code on punched card here) so maybe a bit more in tune with programming techniques, but we never had development environments like Studio then!

Starts pretty well and better than many books, but alas by chapter 12 the instructions become a little inconsistent, printed code not matching downloaded code etc, and I'm left trying to cludge the code myself, which I guess is one way of learning, even if unintended. The publisher needs a forum to discuss their books' errata so that students can push on with learning instead wasting time figuring out what's missing.

Books are a seemingly ineffective way to learn this type of programming, especially with the many changes in the Android industry during the past year. The book isn't written perfectly, you have to look out for online technical reviews to make sure you don't get stuck on a bug while practicing the apps in the book.The book claims that it will guide you through the creation of close to a hundred mini apps - don't confuse these with your dream apps - they are merely for you to examine small functions step by step so they're far from flashy.At this time, as a beginner Android developer you should be looking into up-to-date guides if you don't want to waste your time and money. Get this if it's on sale, or if the author chooses to release an updated version. Get familiar with Kotlin.

Speaking as a programmer with experience of several languages, but not Java, and no experience of android development, I found this book excellent. I wanted to find out how to create an android app and this book took me painlessly through the process.

Good book for beginners who don't know anything about Java or Android programming.The book explains basic Java and android programming in good detail.If you already know Java you may want a slightly more advanced book as you may end up skipping big chunks of the book like I did as Ialready know the material.