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Report: My first "hello world" using Android Studio freeware on Windows worked just fine (in about an hour)



 
 
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  #106  
Old December 1st 18, 05:43 PM posted to comp.mobile.android,alt.comp.freeware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Bill[_40_]
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Posts: 346
Default Report: My first "hello world" using Android Studio freeware on Windows worked just fine (in about an hour)

In message , arlen holder
writes
On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 20:47:04 +0000, Bill wrote:


Looking for some examples led me to:

https://codelabs.developers.google.c...raining-hello-
world/index.html#0
which takes us back to where we started with Hello World, but adds
logging. The course says a single simple line should appear in the debug
logs, but I get loads of lines of info, warnings and errors, most of
which is stuff I dont understand.


I just saw this (and your followup), so I'm not sure if you still recommend
it or not. It's good to recommend or not, as we both wasted a LOT of time on
the last of the four butterfield videos, and yet, the first three were great
(e.g., I'd recommend that first Butterfield video for every noob!).


The Codelabs instructions are fairly OK, but, although they seem to have
been updated this September, there are discrepancies between Android
Studio itself and the text. None of this has been terminal, but it seems
odd.
I find the Android Developers course websites, which appear to be the
official Android training, very confusing. Maybe it's because I don't
have long periods where I can research sensibly but, for example, they
talk of a full course leading to exams, but I've failed to find the
entry point for any such course. I certainly don't want to start exams
at my age, but it would be nice to look at the course.


For the vehicles and the boat, I have a huge box of spanners, all
different. I can no longer lift it. The boat has a glorious collection
of almost every thread known to man. I had to make my own spanners for
the keel bolts in the milling machine.


It's nice you have a milling machine! I have metric and imperial tap and die
sets, and of course, wrenches (aka "spanners") of all sizes, but no milling
machine yet!

My main three metalworking tools are a Myford lathe, the milling machine
and a solid, old fashioned Fobco bench drill. All bought second hand and
in various stages of disrepair. I used a tiny modelmaker's lathe to make
the parts to get the full size machines going.

One reason I have no time is that, as I think I've said before, I
desperately need to have a clear out of the disorganised "stuff" saved
for projects in my retirement and that I no longer have time or strength
to do because of current family circumstances. I've spent most of today
getting pics ready for ebay and putting other stuff on Freecycle.


Bill - I found a great set of tutorials (more on them later), where one that
I haven't done yet is all about SQL databases.

While I generally shy away from heavy accents due to the inability to
comprehend what say when they speak fast, this guy seems to have a series
of GREAT beginner videos ... replete with working source code!
https://codinginflow.com/app-ideas-learn-android-programming

He has a four-video series on working with SQLite in Android Studio:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrnPJCHvNZuBMJmll0xy2L2McYInT3aiu

I haven't done that particular series, but I've done a half dozen of his
other stuff, where _all_ his supplied source code worked perfectly the first
time!

Hence, I have no reason to believe these won't work also, when and if I
tackle SQL databases in the future, such as this 13-part SQL series where he
creates a multiple-choice quiz app in Android Studio:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrnPJCHvNZuDCyg4Usq2gHMzz6_CiyQO7

To give you an idea of this guy's well organized coding examples, I'll post
separately a few of the apps I have created using his tutorials.


Yes, his material does look extremely good after only a short look
through it and watching a couple of videos. I am still only on the
second part of part one of my Codelabs course (but see below re
emulators), which I'm taking slowly, so I doubt if I'll be dashing back
to SQL any day soon.

As I say, I may well downgrade to the text based tutorial course
mentioned above for a time. It seems to be fairly up to date.


Like you, I am seeking out the best resources, where I did spend some time
on these tutorials, every one of which I tested worked out fine.
https://codinginflow.com/app-ideas-learn-android-programming

Since he provides extremely reliable and complete source code which hasn't
even once failed on the first try, and since he has an accent, what I end up
doing, which works for me, is this simple learning sequence:
1. First I copy & paste the source code & run on emulation & on the phone
2. Since that works the first time, without any errors, I don't learn much
3. Still, I can play with the app to get a good idea of what it does
4. Then, I read all the video comments (usually worthless though)
5. And then I watch the video, over and over and over - learning each time
6. Lastly, I zip up the working directory & experiment with commands

The good news is that this guy's source ALWAYS works the first time.
So you can spend time LEARNING and EXPERIMENTING.

Until an experiment goes wrong, you don't spend time DEBUGGING.
And, when an experiment goes wrong, you know exactly what you changed.

If you look at this guy's videos, let me know what you think.
I wish I had seen them sooner.

As I say, they look good. Where I find I'm sticking is with learning
basic things that seem to be glossed over in a lot of videos, and that's
why I'm ploughing on at this slow rate on the text based tuition.

I'll have a real go at one of his soon though.


To help you and others, I'll post some of my results separately.

I've been trying to stick with Android 4 as the basic development level,
as I have loads of machines of that era to test on.


Hehhehheh ... Bill ... you are wise ... as I wasted a LOT of time trying to
run things that only work on Oreo, where I can't yet get an emulator to work
with Oreo, so it was a complete waste of time.

Hence, like you, I've learned (the hard way) to stick with API 14 (Android
4) for as long as I can as my targeted Android device selection!

Bill - that just reminded me of the infuriating issues I had last week with
the various emulators, where I tested a half dozen of them, specifically
C:\app\editor\android\emu\{google,arm,ms,geny,and y,blue}

Here's a quick snippet of my analysis of how they work with Android Studio:
o Google (Android ?, fails on older AMD CPUs but is the default for AS)
o Arm (Android ?, nobody recommends these as they are too slow to be usable)
o Microsoft (Android 6, works great on older AMD CPUs, integrates into AS)
o Genymotion (Android 7.1, best overall for speed & CPU & AS compatibility)
o Andyroid (Android 7.1.2, simple setup where AS instantly recognized it)
o Bluestacks (Android 7.1.1, simple setup & runs fast, but AS didn't see it)

In the end, I had so many emulators competing with each other that I wiped
them all out and just installed the Genymotion emulator, which is
recommended by all as being the most compatible, and the fastest.
o Genymotion has a toolbar button integrated into Android Studio
o Genymotion has free technical support by email
o Genymotion has all the emulators you could want to have
o And it's fast
o But best of all - it works just fine with my older AMD CPU

The only Genymotion drawback I see is that I can't get anything higher than
API 25 to work in Genymotion on my older AMD CPU (i.e., API 26 and above
fails, i.e., Oreo & Pie), but for now, that's good enough since all the
emulators worked up to and including Nougat.


The second part of the first Codelabs tuition is to do with screen
rotation and programming for tablets. But the Android emulator doesn't
seem to come with any pre-programmed tablet emulations, which means I'll
either have to cobble one up via their emulation building screens, dig
out an old tablet or not bother testing. At the moment I've chosen the
last option.

Your parallel thread about the Codinginflow apps looks very useful and
thorough, so I'll look through all that at leisure.
--
Bill

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  #107  
Old December 1st 18, 08:25 PM posted to comp.mobile.android,alt.comp.freeware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
arlen holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Report: My first "hello world" using Android Studio freeware on Windows worked just fine (in about an hour)

On Sat, 1 Dec 2018 16:43:34 +0000, Bill wrote:

The Codelabs instructions are fairly OK, but, although they seem to have
been updated this September, there are discrepancies between Android
Studio itself and the text. None of this has been terminal, but it seems
odd.


Hi Bill,
Thanks for that assessment of the "Codelabs" tutorials.

I'll skip them since, as you well know, we can waste a lot of time on bad
tutorials.

Hence it's very useful to know what you think, because I trust your advice.

I find the Android Developers course websites, which appear to be the
official Android training, very confusing. Maybe it's because I don't
have long periods where I can research sensibly but, for example, they
talk of a full course leading to exams, but I've failed to find the
entry point for any such course. I certainly don't want to start exams
at my age, but it would be nice to look at the course.


Hmmmmhnmmmmm......... I haven't seen any official Android training courses
free online yet. Of course, we both started with the text-based official
Google tutorial .... which ... as pure unadulterated noobs, we both found a
bit confusing the first time through it.

My hindsight is getting better though, as I purposefully re-created a score
of apps, so that I could _practice_ the steps, where I went through that
initial Google Android Studio (AS) tutorial, and didn't find it confusing in
the least!

Ha!

What does that mean?
Two things, of interest:
1. Google never tested that tutorial with pure noobs like we were, Bill!
2. If you _already_ know how to use AS, then that 1st tutorial is fine.

In 20/20 hindsight, my advice to noobs is to do the Bill Butterfield 1st
tutorial first, and _then_ do the official Google Android Studio tutorial.

I still think Bill Butterfield could have gone slower and he could have
provided the source code. That means if I find a _better_ first tutorial,
then I'll recommend that.

But a noob's 1st tutorial has to contain these basic features:
1. It has to be on the current Android Studio version (currently 3.2.1)
2. It has to show every button click - every single one!
3. It has to show all the code (it's ok to show it as you change it)

It's even better if it supplies the source code, like the codinginflow
videos do so wonderfully!

If I find that perfect first tutorial, I'll let you know, but both you and I
are way past that stage now, so, I'll only post it if I accidentally run
into it. (I could make that tutorial myself, but I don't want my persona on
the net, so I'd have to ask someone else to do the dialog.)

My main three metalworking tools are a Myford lathe, the milling machine
and a solid, old fashioned Fobco bench drill. All bought second hand and
in various stages of disrepair. I used a tiny modelmaker's lathe to make
the parts to get the full size machines going.


Wow. I envy you. I always wanted a full shop (mostly for woodworking), with
a tablesaw, drill press, lathe, and, well, maybe, a milling machine. What I
have is a circular saw, a hand drill, a belt sander, and, well, a router
mounted on a router table.

You have the rich man's shop; mine is the poor man's equivalent!

Wow. I once worked in a machine shop, filled with Germans, literally (all
speaking with heavy accents). They were meticulous on the lathe. I think
they had me on a "Harding Chucker" and a "Sunnen Hone" (as I recall, but
this was in the early sixties, so, my memory is off). They had milling
machines too, but they were a beast to set up.

But I did love when the lathes worked on the magnesium for the government
projects! (Guess what we kids did with piles of curly magnesium shavings?)

One reason I have no time is that, as I think I've said before, I
desperately need to have a clear out of the disorganised "stuff" saved
for projects in my retirement and that I no longer have time or strength
to do because of current family circumstances. I've spent most of today
getting pics ready for ebay and putting other stuff on Freecycle.


Good for you, Bill.
Take your time.

I'm just playing around with the Android apps at the moment.
Only later will I get to the point of writing my own.

What I like is that I am at a stage where, if the code works in the first
place, I can create the app _just_ from the code (and, in some cases, with a
few hints when, for example, a "Java Class" or a "Vector Asset" needs to be
created.

BTW, for my purpose, a "Java Class" is just yet another java file.
And, for my purpose, a "Vector Asset" is simply an icon, such as a
notification icon.

Fancy words ... simple meaning (at this point).
I'm even getting used to the strange Android language, e.g., an "Activity",
is just "something that happens"... where they bandy that word "Activity"
around a lot!

It's interesting, in hindsight, how _easy_ it is to use the Android Studio
development environment when all I have is the source code where I no longer
need the steps explained to me (if the source code works).

It's sort of like how kids learn to drive a car, where I'm currently
teaching a 15-year old how to drive (she's too young, but she wants to
drive, so I'm teaching her). She is at the point where she's used to the
controls, and she is a bit clumsy with the clutch, but she'll get out of
first gear some day.

Just like with you and me on Android Studio, she's at the point where we can
drive down the road in first gear without smelling a burnt clutch ... so
that's where our comfort level is at the moment with Android Studio.

I'll bet she could figure out how to get to second gear on her own,
just as we can figure out how to load source code on our own.

Yes, his material does look extremely good after only a short look
through it and watching a couple of videos. I am still only on the
second part of part one of my Codelabs course (but see below re
emulators), which I'm taking slowly, so I doubt if I'll be dashing back
to SQL any day soon.


I understand, Bill ... and I completely agree on all three points!
o Codeinflow
o Codelabs
o SQL

I *love* that Codeinflow site, mainly because the guy is _professional_ and
well organized, and he does not skip any steps that he hasn't explained, so
any noob can get his apps to work, especially as he provides _all_ the
necessary source code and instruction on how to install it. The main
drawback is that I shun any YouTube video with accents, which means I
generally get the app to work first, which takes only a couple of minutes,
and then I go through what he says in the video well after the app is
already running.

As for Codelabs, I'll skip it for now, as I'm comfortable with the Codinflow
methodology.

Likewise for SQL, where, if I ever tackle it (and I probably will, but
later), then I'll first do the two Codinflow SQL tutorials, since I'm
already comfortable with his methodology.

As I say, they look good. Where I find I'm sticking is with learning
basic things that seem to be glossed over in a lot of videos, and that's
why I'm ploughing on at this slow rate on the text based tuition.


I agree with you Bill, that what we seem to be missing is the "well done"
tutorial for noobs. I haven't found it yet. (Maybe, some day, I'll write it,
but not now when I'm still a complete noob.)

What's interesting though, Bill, is that we're "normal" people in that we
knew absolutely _nothing_ about Android app coding when we started.

You'd think _lots_ of people are that way, such that there would be lots of
tutorials aimed at noobs like we were when we started. But I haven't found
them, at least not in the "free" variety.

Bear in mind that the "TheTreehouse" tutorial was FANTASTIC in that regard,
but only the first tutorial seems to be free, while the rest are payware.

I loved the Alice Lu tutorials also, but they were on an older Android
Studio version, which was just too much juggling for me to do at the state I
had looked at them (maybe in a while I can get back to them as I learn
more).

At the moment, Bill, I'm getting _really comfortable_ with Android Studio
version 3.2.1, where I was not at all comfortable with the "controls", just
like this 15-year old isn't comfortable yet with turning on the wipers or
lights while driving without having to stop the car for a moment to look to
see where the controls are.

Over time, like her, we will get comfortable with where Android Studio puts
the controls (and then they'll likely change versions on us!).

I'll have a real go at one of his soon though.


If you pick one, you'd likely be interested in the SQL, but I haven't done
it so I can't recommend it.

What I'd recommend is following my instructions here for your _first_
Codinginflow app (which I named "app10", which is a stopwatch).
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/aW64zYeBtF0/kQ1uxWhoBAAJ

I understand that "app10" is a lousy name for others (I use it for reasons
of organization since my apps are coming from widely divergent sources which
I'm trying to keep organized).

You can keep the original names in the source and it will work fine.
That app10 should be up and running in two minutes.
(I think my code is a one-hour timer, where the source is 10 seconds,
but that's easily changed since it's just a number of milliseconds.)

My main issue with those Codinginflow apps is that I'm starting to get bored
with them, but there is a lot to learn from them nonetheless.

The second part of the first Codelabs tuition is to do with screen
rotation and programming for tablets. But the Android emulator doesn't
seem to come with any pre-programmed tablet emulations, which means I'll
either have to cobble one up via their emulation building screens, dig
out an old tablet or not bother testing. At the moment I've chosen the
last option.


That's interesting that Android Studio doesn't come with "tablets"
pre-programmed! I haven't looked for them, so I wouldn't have noticed.

Moving forward, the next time I add an emulator, I'll look for a tablet,
but, as you've seen, I've had my troubles with the emulators on my older
AMD-based Windows 10 Pro such that I've begun to refer to them as
emasculators.

My current position, earned by experience, is that I will use the highly
professional and fast Genymotion emulators, since they're widely acclaimed
to be the best, and, if/when I ever _need_ Oreo/Pie emasculation, then and
only then will I deal with why the Genymotion emulators are emasculating me
only on the Android API levels of 26 and above.

For you, if you must pick an emulator, I'd suggest Genymotion, although
there are plenty of freeware Android emasculators to choose from, such as
C:\app\editor\android\emu\{google,arm,ms,geny,andy ,blue,nox,ko,mumu,remix}
o Google (Android ?, fails on older AMD CPUs but is the default for AS)
o Arm (Android ?, nobody recommends these as they are too slow to be usable)
o Microsoft (Android 6, works great on older AMD CPUs, integrates into AS)
o Genymotion (Android 7.1, everyone recommends this one!)
o Andyroid (Android 7.1.2, simple setup where AS instantly recognized it)
o Bluestacks (Android 7.1.1, simple setup & runs fast, but AS didn't see it)
o Nox (Android 4.4.2, targeted to gamers)
o Ko (Android ?)
o MeMu (Android Lollipop)
o Remix* (Android Marshmallow, incompatible with AMD)

Your parallel thread about the Codinginflow apps looks very useful and
thorough, so I'll look through all that at leisure.


Hi Bill,
It would be nice if you try to follow the step-by-step tutorial for app10
that I wrote, and let me know if I skipped a step.

That way, I can learn what I skipped so that others won't get burned by it.

App11 would also be a good one, I think (countdown timer).
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/aW64zYeBtF0/2JupW4ZvBAAJ

In summary, I think we've both progressed a _lot_ since our early noob days.
We're _still_ noobs at writing Android apps, but slightly less so.

What I find most invigorating is realizing how easy it is to "push" the app
from Windows to the phone. It will be enlightening when I finally push my
first app to Google Play or to F-Droid where my goal would be perfectly free
apps with no shenanigans that do one thing and one thing well (like a
spanner does one thing only, but it does that one thing well).
  #108  
Old December 3rd 18, 07:20 PM posted to comp.mobile.android,alt.comp.freeware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Bill[_40_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 346
Default Report: My first "hello world" using Android Studio freeware on Windows worked just fine (in about an hour)

In message , arlen holder
writes
Thanks for that assessment of the "Codelabs" tutorials.

I'll skip them since, as you well know, we can waste a lot of time on
bad tutorials.


It's 6pm here and I have had no time today or yesterday to look at any
more of this, but I will plough on for now with these Codelabs
tutorials.

I think their aims are good, and they do seem to be methodical, but
there are typos that really shouldn't be there. For example the
instructions say, in the section where we are learning how to change
from a constraint to linear layout:

---------
Find the show_count TextView element, and change the following
attributes:

Original android:layout_width="0dp"
Change to android:layout_width="match_parent"

Original android:layout_width="0dp"
Change to android:layout_height="wrap_content"
--------

which contains an obvious and easy to suss out and avoid typo (one of
the widths should read height) but it does look as though there is a
lack of testing.
The obvious ones are OK to live with, but how is a lone beginner ever to
trust that there are no more obscure typos?

Off out again now - will try to resume for a short time later.
--
Bill

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  #109  
Old December 7th 18, 05:24 PM posted to comp.mobile.android,alt.comp.freeware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Bill[_40_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 346
Default Report: My first "hello world" using Android Studio freeware on Windows worked just fine (in about an hour)

In message , Bill
writes
I will plough on for now with these Codelabs tutorials.

I think their aims are good, and they do seem to be methodical, but
there are typos that really shouldn't be there.


Well, here's where I am up to (or mired in).

I have now completed just parts 1 and 2 of the first Codelabs beginner's
app. There are typo's, which indicate a lack of proof reading or testing
on a beginner.
There also appears to be at least one bug in Android Studio where the
textAlignment attribute of textView doesn't appear in the full list of
its attributes. I had to ask for help elsewhere to get past this after
wasting days searching for it. From looking at related questions, it
appears that some people on AS 3.2.1 see this attribute, others don't.
Maybe different builds behave differently?
Using the gravity attribute to centre the text in textView has the
effect of making the Blueprint and Design images different. I haven't
really got time to dig into why this is or whether it should happen.

In the process of getting here, I have triggered two more fatal errors
in AS. I have now started to allow the program to send off these error
reports.

My plan now is to attempt to write or steal some code to make Codelabs 1
do more exciting things, while carrying on simultaneously to Codelabs 2.
Progress will remain very slow, but I feel I am gradually learning a
small amount.
--
Bill

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