So far so good. I setup the Android SDK , installed Eclipse , added the ADT plugin and tested Hello,Android program without any major issues.
Now, I haven't worked on Java till now. But I know good amount of C and a bit of C++, so am trying to avoid spending a lot of time to learn the basics of Java from a book etc. So, I searched for a simple program for Android that can work as a starting point for me to tweak and learn about the platform and language while getting to a working code as soon as possible.
I found this tutorial on anddev.org forum which was exactly what I was looking for. I created a new project and added the source code. It gives a compilation error on first run, but the solution is given on the same page, so I got the working "bouncing ball" program within a few minutes.
The code is very simple and comments are very helpful for beginners.
I spent next few hours modifying the code in different ways, learning a lot about Java on the way. Finally I got a program which displays a bouncing ball on the screen, a new ball is added after approximately every 10 seconds and all have different speeds.
Its nothing special and perhaps I would have learned a lot more "theory" if I had spent the same time reading a book.
But its way more satisfying approach for me :) Now am trying to setup an svn server and client on my computer to keep a better track of code changes. Its not going to be collaborative project anytime soon. But again, its a very practical way to learn about something new and as a bonus I won't have to worry about loosing hours of work because of random file removal etc. This linklooks very promising for the next stage. Will check it out after the svn work.
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