[PLEASE HELP]Wanting to make my own app.

[asd216]

Hey AC,

As stated in the title, I'm trying to make my own app. I downloaded the SDK from android.com to create apps, and learning to code is something I've always wanted to do.

The app I'm trying to create is most likely to advanced for me but hey, go big or go home right? It's going to be unique SMS app built for 4.0+ and I'm looking for a generous developer to guide me in the right direction.

I first asked on XDA but they don't care too much for noob like me so I thought I would ask the more friendly folks of AC

Any help is appreciated!

 

[Axila_Apps]

I unfortunately don't have the time to actively guide you but I will suggest some things to get started. I'm going to assume that you have never programmed before or never worked with object oriented code.

• Get a good book or take a class. I started coding on my own with the TI-83+ series of calculators with only the instruction manual to guide me (back when TI halfway decent manuals). Because I was self-taught, I never realized that I was making some really dumb mistakes. Later on I took a class in C Sharp just for fun, and both the professor and the book taught me how to avoid common coding mistakes and pitfalls that I made all the time. Additionally, I learned the lingo of programming itself, such as 'class,' 'object,' 'method,' and 'headers.'
• Start small. Yes, I know the feeling of diving in and hoping to make the most amazing app ever right out of the gate, but it doesn't work like that. Set a long term goal (e.g., make an SMS app) and break it down into smaller chunks that you need to learn and master (e.g., displaying a list of items, launching a new activity on clicking it, learning notifications, listening for incoming notifications, handling text input, handling non-western characters, etc.). For each step, make a small app where you learn how to do just that step; once you have achieved mastery of it all, write your awesome SMS app. Even with ten years of experience, I do this every time I want to learn a new programming language. Just because I am fluent in Spanish ("adi?s!") does not automatically make me fluent in Italian ("addio!"), and I am defiantly not fluent in Japanese ("Sayōnara!").
• If you want a shorter goal, try making a tick-tack-toe program first. This will teach you the basics of gui interfaces and the quirks of Android/Java (and there are many). Simply getting a button to do something is painful on Android.
• For a more graphical approach to programming, check out the MIT App Inventor. It's a good place to start before diving into blocks of code.
• Finally, have comments everywhere in your code. Make it so that even 10 years later you can figure out what you were doing before. You never know when reusing a section of code will be really useful in a different project.

I wish you the best of luck, and post your apps when you make one!

P.S., if you want to check out an Android app I made over the winter break/holiday, click here.

 

[asd216]

Thanks so much for the advice! I will take into consideration of everything you said!!

 

[Tweeky99]

What a great post. Thank you Axila. I've used App Inventor up until now and I really like but I've hit man brick walls because of it's limitations. Maybe it's time for me to follow your advice too