The 50,000-foot view of our four main classes

Here is how our activities look like...

Tools used

We used Motodev to create the user interfaces (xml) and also to create the java code that supports the implementation to our application. We also used Pain.NET to create and/or modify the graphics used. In addition, we used SQLite Database Browser to create the database that holds all the questions and answers used by the application. It is important to mentioned that all these tools are free of charge and available online.

Before coding...

Phase II of our project taught us that we need a plan before we start coding. Thinking about the activities, how the user interacts with them and covering all possible user cases is important. We used Balsamiq to create the images and Microsoft Visio to enter the info in the boxes with the elements and classes. The link for Balsamiq is http://www.balsamiq.com/products/mockups#. It is free and very easy to use.

I was recently told to install Microsoft Visio, so I got a copy using my subscription through school to MSDN. I was surprised when I got a .iso file that I couldn't just run like any other installer (.msi or .exe), so after doing some research, I found out that I needed to burn this file into a CD. However, I couldn't use just any burner, it had to be a specific kind. I downloaded Iso-Burner and it actually helped me a lot. I was able to burn it to a CD and then run it as regular installer. Now I know that running .iso files is not complicated, they just require you to take an extra step.

New to Android!!!

Android is a new open source software for mobile phones that was created by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. It is a free platform, it was inspired in mashups. It has a lot of conveniently available services ready to be used as “plug and play”. Many developers like it because it automatically manages the application life cycles of all the apps running in the phone, in other words, the developer doesn’t need to get involved in this tedious process… the OS does it for you! Another special feature of Android is that all programs are written in Java which is supported world wide.

We recently installed MotoDev and the SDK’s needed to run some examples in the emulator; which is a pretty cool feature… although the developer should have a phone available to download the app into the cellphone for development purposes, it is not mandatory. MotoDev comes with an emulator that saves time, and it is very similar to the actual phone interface.

Creating the first program is easy as long as you are following a tutorial or a book; otherwise, you will be lost as it is not very intuitive, but once you start learning step by step, you should be able to get your first Hello World in different layouts or views. I would recommend the Hello Android by Ed Burnette and Beginning Android by Mark Murphy. These are very different books, the first one takes you through the whole process on how to completely create a specific application/game from beginning to end. The second book is a good reference book, it gives you quick and easy answers to specific questions or issues.

We are planning on working on a Trivia game, something fun that users would enjoy and also learn from… at the end of the day… nobody has all answers to all questions… we can all learn something new every day!