Android Programming, is there an easy way?

[TheLordOfChaos201]

Hello

Short explanation:
Does anyone know a simple way to make a android app? It would be great if you showed me how it is done on Netbeans, or provide a link, but I'm willing to program on another coding platform. Please only PC, I hear you can code with your phone but honestly that sounds like hell on Earth

Long explanation:
I recently found out that Android uses Java libraries for most of their programming language, that the only main difference is that they use their own language for GUIs and UIs. Since I'm a java programmer I thought I might as well write my own phone apps to manage a few basic things I currently do manually, but it turns out making a akp file is next to impossible.

Is there a simply means of installing a plug in or adding some addition on to Netbeans that will allow me to make android apps?


I've been trying google for the last 4 hours because I thought this would be a simple plug in an play thing, but it is not.

Converter
If a converter exists, from jar to apk, then fuck programming in android I want that! Likewise if there is a way to run jar files on a phone, then I'm willing to do that too.


HELP!

 

[Abovegame]

You can always check out Android Studio. It's available for both Linux and Windows.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I recently found out that Android uses Java libraries for most of their programming language, that the only main difference is that they use their own language for GUIs and UIs. Since I'm a java programmer I thought I might as well write my own phone apps to manage a few basic things I currently do manually, but it turns out making a akp file is next to impossible.

There are a lot of other differences. Android does not like one doing normal Java stuff, especially with respect to interfaces, IO, networking, threading etc. Google has a whole load of android specific extension APIs on top of the now more or less complete standard Java API.

I've been trying google for the last 4 hours because I thought this would be a simple plug in an play thing, but it is not.

It is. You can get all the tools you need for Eclipse IDE in a single android development plugin and pretty much jump straight into Android development. I think you might have to download the official android SDK but that might only be for the OS emulators. At least that is what I did to develop android apps ~4 years ago.

If you use MSVC to program C++ one can install all the Android SDK stuff as part of the installer. Not Java but another way to program Android easily.

If a converter exists, from jar to apk, then fuck programming in android I want that! Likewise if there is a way to run jar files on a phone, then I'm willing to do that too.

I think there are structural differences in the file format. I am not even sure Phones can run Java code (they use a different sort of byte code) however it is possible that modern phones have a JVM thrown in that translates the byte code formats.

In any case I recommend using Eclipse IDE for Java or Java EE, installing the android development package, getting the android SDK from google and hopefully everything will work from there. Eclipse might even offer a bundle targeting Android development now, which would make it even easier to get started.

 

[PurgeandFire]

Get Android Studio. They have device emulators, so you don't actually need a phone to run the program (although I highly recommend testing on a device before you submit anything ;P). Takes a few minutes to get it set up and get a basic app working.

If you ever get into the field, you might wanna consider getting used to the IntelliJ IDEA ecosystem in general (it is the underlying IDE for Android Studio). Everyone sorta praises it for Java. I've used it and while it isn't super pretty, its features are amazing. It syncs so well with external packages like maven/spring. I highly recommend it.

 

[Pinzu]

Get Android Studio. They have device emulators, so you don't actually need a phone to run the program (although I highly recommend testing on a device before you submit anything ;P). Takes a few minutes to get it set up and get a basic app working.

If you ever get into the field, you might wanna consider getting used to the IntelliJ IDEA ecosystem in general (it is the underlying IDE for Android Studio). Everyone sorta praises it for Java. I've used it and while it isn't super pretty, its features are amazing. It syncs so well with external packages like maven/spring. I highly recommend it.

Get a old android phone instead, the emulator is so slow you will want to quit your project within days.

To get started:
- Android Studio
- Firebase for infrastructure, such as database, crashreport, user services, etc
- Perhaps pickup RXjava for async communication with server
- Do read up on a few design patterns, and pick one, it will save you grief later down the road
- LiveData/ViewModel is useful when dealing with Activity life cycles

I think you can go down he javaFX route with something called Gluon, instead of using Android Studios. I've never tried it myself so can't speak of if it's any good. But the purpose of that is to attempt to make code cross platform.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Get a old android phone instead, the emulator is so slow you will want to quit your project within days.

Depends on your computer. It is sufficient to test and debug most simple applications. The reason it is so slow is likely due to the ARM emulation being aimed at correctness rather than performance. It should also support the most recent feature subset, something cheaper or older Android devices might not.

 

[TheLordOfChaos201]

all of these options suck

 

[Dr Super Good]

Android programing itself kind of sucks at times. That said the tools still should integrate enough with version management, build systems and IDEs to be practical.

 

[Pinzu]

Android programing itself kind of sucks at times. That said the tools still should integrate enough with version management, build systems and IDEs to be practical.

What about that new Google thing, Flutter. Any thoughts?

 

[LordDz]

Instead of spending time on Android Studio.. Code in Visual Studio with C# and Xamarin instead.
Works for both Android and iPhone and you don't need to own a Mac to build with.
Mobile App Development & App Creation Software - Xamarin

 

[TheLordOfChaos201]

The main problem with android is every time they update their software you have to update your platform programming software. It is super annoying!

It doesn't help that that software is sometimes 3gbs

This is the problem I'm constantly faced with as the program to make android apps, doesn't run if you don't have the latest update!

Again, it is hard enough trying to make a new app, without having to deal with this crap

When did it get so hard to design an app for a PHONE!

 

[Dr Super Good]

It doesn't help that that software is sometimes 3gbs

So? 3GB is trivially small by todays development standards.

 

[TheLordOfChaos201]

So? 3GB is trivially small by todays development standards.

when you only have 5gbs a month to spend... 3 is a hell of a lot

the internet isn't cheap in all countries

 

[Ceday]

Android programming without Android Studio is just not fun. You also probably not find many resources since people dislike it.

Its built-in emulator is very slow, either use a real phone or GenyMotion emulator.

Also these days designing an app for phones are harder compared to computers. Compare a simple desktop app made for windows(with visual studio) or linux(qt) against an android or iphone app.

 

[Dr Super Good]

when you only have 5gbs a month to spend... 3 is a hell of a lot

the internet isn't cheap in all countries

Modern software developers are assumed to have access to pretty much unlimited internet. As such little effort is put in to optimizing developer tool file sizes or update processes. It also means that updates for such tools might be pushed out more frequently, necessitating more large downloads. Unfortunately there is not much one can do to get around this, other than try to program something else using older tools.