As an Android Development noob (at the time of this writing, of course), I've spent many hours watching videos and reading tutorials, only to find out that many are either not very noob friendly, or they are way outdated and thus not very good for those who literally have no clue of what's going on. I've wasted so much time trying to make sense of the endless stream dribble out there, that I nearly gave up entirely. Luckily, I was able to stumble across a few resources that help to tie the pieces together and explain in more detail the things that the others failed to do.
If you (like I was at one point) are struggling to make sense of it all and still need that little extra something to stimulate those much needed neural connections being formed (still need that light bulb moment?), then maybe you've come to the right place.
TheNewBoston
Obviously, in order to be an effective Android app Developer, you will need to be able to program in Java (or some other language). And if you're like me, you probably won't get a lot out of simply learning how to create loops and conditional statements without being able to put them to good use. The following are a few sites with Java problem solving exercises (Katas) that test your ability to solve common problems. After many hours of watching videos and reading, they are great resources for you to flex your newly found coding muscles.
CodingBat
The following are some great sites that have small tutorials and code examples for performing various tasks that you probably wont find in any of the video tutorials (working with Facebook, sending SMS messages, creating live wallpapers, adding design elements, etc.). These are mostly blog sites with individual entries added periodically, but they're great resources for seeing how the different technologies work and adding to your overall Android Development repertoire. These of course, assume you have at least a basic understanding of the Android Development platform.
http://www.curious-creature.org/category/android/
http://mobile.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/android/
http://blog.stylingandroid.com/
http://www.javacodegeeks.com/android/
http://www.anddev.org/
http://androiduiux.com/
http://androidweekly.net/
http://www.edumobile.org/android/
http://learnandroideasily.blogspot.com/2013/07/android-development-tutorials.html
http://cssmatter.com/blog/ios-and-android-app-development/
If you (like I was at one point) are struggling to make sense of it all and still need that little extra something to stimulate those much needed neural connections being formed (still need that light bulb moment?), then maybe you've come to the right place.
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TheNewBoston
First off, every beginner should know about TheNewBoston. This is a site created by a young man by the name of Bucky Roberts who was tired of not getting anywhere in college, and decided to quit and teach himself. He has a wealth of video tutorials on everything from programming and web development to game development, along with 200 videos on Android Development. It's definitely not my favorite resource, mostly because I have ADHD and the constant stream of “umm...uh...and uh, this, uh...um...” in Bucky's videos, along with his apparent inability to correctly pronounce the word “build”, is just too much for me to bear....but, I digress. Luckily, the Android Development videos are done by a guy name Travis and they are considerably more professional. You'd be hard pressed to find more topics covered in a single location for free anywhere else, which is exactly why I think it had to be mentioned first.
NewThinkTank
A site created by Derek Banas that covers a wide range of topics from web development to...dieting...??? Nevertheless, his Java and Android Development videos are easily the most professional, straight-forward, and easy to understand tutorials I've seen anywhere. If you can walk away after watching his videos and honestly say you still don't understand what's going on, then you should probably pursue a different hobby (or lay off the paint chips).
Level Up Tuts
This site has video tutorials that are mostly geared towards web development, but they do have 23 Android App Development videos that are easy to understand, and walk you through building a simple app from start to finish. It's a great resource for newbies that just want to skip over the hours of watching videos, get straight into building their first app., and still be able to understand what's going on. You definitely won't learn everything you need to know about building Android apps, but you will walk away with a decent understanding of how to create your layouts while giving them some functionality, and without needing any prior programming experience.
Vogella
This website has an immense amount of current information regarding Android, Java, Eclipse and various other topics. There are no videos, but all the information is laid out as you were reading it from a college textbook. It is very easy to understand, but you should probably go through a few of the video courses mentioned previously before getting started on this site. This is definitely a great resource for filling in the gaps left behind by other tutorials.
Java Ranch
Java Ranch is a site specifically geared towards the Java newbie. It mainly consists of a forum where the only rule for posting is to “be nice”. There are quite a few sub-forums for nearly every aspect of Java, including Android and game development, along with a “Java Beginners” sub-forum where there is literally no such thing as a stupid question. Very newbie friendly and a great place to ask your question if you get stuck on something.
JavaPractices
A great site for learning good Java coding style. There are several ways to complete a single task in Java, many of which will cause whoever is reading your code to cringe in horror. If you plan to do anything even remotely complicated in Java/Android, you should definitely push yourself to learn good coding practices. It will make your life so much easier when debugging or asking for help.
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Obviously, in order to be an effective Android app Developer, you will need to be able to program in Java (or some other language). And if you're like me, you probably won't get a lot out of simply learning how to create loops and conditional statements without being able to put them to good use. The following are a few sites with Java problem solving exercises (Katas) that test your ability to solve common problems. After many hours of watching videos and reading, they are great resources for you to flex your newly found coding muscles.
CodingBat
CodingBat has over 150 different interactive problems that test your code against a predetermined set of arguments. There are 48 “warm-up” problems with solutions available so you can get an idea of how it all works, but after that you're all on your own. Each problem increases in difficulty over the previous ones and they will definitely test your logic like no tutorial can.
Cattle Drive
Java Ranch's Cattle Drive, is a set of deceptively challenging exercises that are designed to really test your problem solving abilities. The exercises are free to do on your own and you are allowed to ask questions about them in the forums, but you have to enroll in the program if you want experienced developers to “nit-pick” your work and help you develop good coding style and practices. Be sure to research how to pass arguments to your main method using your particular IDE to get the most out of this.
Programmr
This site has lots of timed, user submitted, interactive problem solving exercises that are mostly geared towards getting the example code to run. You get points for every task completed, and every two weeks the top ten point leaders get $20 gift certificates for Amazon.com. You can choose from several different programming languages including C++, PHP, Javascript, SQL, Python, and they even have an area for Android specific problems (to be added soon). And, although it's kind of buggy, this is a great alternative to the traditional code Katas.
ProgrammingPraxis
The largest collection of programming Katas I've seen anywhere. So many, in fact, that they are sorted into themes. Users post their solutions and let others comment on them. Considering the very nature of Katas, the same problems can be solved in numerous different languages, and this becomes very apparent as you view some of the posted solutions, as there are no separate forums for the different languages.
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The following are some great sites that have small tutorials and code examples for performing various tasks that you probably wont find in any of the video tutorials (working with Facebook, sending SMS messages, creating live wallpapers, adding design elements, etc.). These are mostly blog sites with individual entries added periodically, but they're great resources for seeing how the different technologies work and adding to your overall Android Development repertoire. These of course, assume you have at least a basic understanding of the Android Development platform.
http://www.curious-creature.org/category/android/
http://mobile.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/android/
http://blog.stylingandroid.com/
http://www.javacodegeeks.com/android/
http://www.anddev.org/
http://androiduiux.com/
http://androidweekly.net/
http://www.edumobile.org/android/
http://learnandroideasily.blogspot.com/2013/07/android-development-tutorials.html
http://cssmatter.com/blog/ios-and-android-app-development/
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There should be more than enough here for even the noobiest of noobs to become full-fledged Android Developers without any prior development experience. With that being said, like many of you, I'm still learning, but as I learn and find more resources/tutorials/videos/whatever that are relevant to whatever I'm learning, I will try to list them as well (maybe even try to keep everything up-to-date).
Good Luck, fellow development noobs...you're not alone.
Good Luck, fellow development noobs...you're not alone.
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