As part of my Master’s in Management Information Systems program at the University of Illinois – Springfield, we are learning how to build a mobile application. Since there has been a lot of talk about mobile app development and how to get started, it seems only fitting that I share my learning process with you — my students (I know, parallel universe, right?). As usual, I can’t say how important it is to experiment and play outside of class to build your skills. If you’re interested in learning more about mobile apps, I encourage you to follow along in my journey. The videos I’ll be posting follow Corinne Hoisington’s Android Boot Camp, Third Edition if you’re interested in picking up the text to learn more on your own. I’ll continue to post each new lab to my blog. A complete listing of my videos when I’m complete can be found on my Android Boot Camp Step-by-Step page.
Step 1: Install the Android Studio
Step 2: Check to make sure everything is installed properly
A few things I noticed. The Android Studio is a huge download (1.6GB). It takes a bit of time to install and it consumes a chunk of memory when running (about 600MB or more in my experience). The IDE has some nice features. It’s pretty cool to use a virtual mobile device inside the IDE to test out the app. You can use the emulator to render your app in a virtual device of your choice (Nexus 5, for example). Below you’ll find videos of each lab so you can see how the development process works from builing the obligatory Hello World! app to integrating audio into the app.