Ready to Program Android?

Androidprogramming requires a couple of things, chief among them is your knowledge of the Java programming language. You don’t need to cover all the knowledge base of Java because android applications are not made exactly the same way as mainstream Java apps. You wouldn’t code an android app the same way you would code a web app, the android app would use a different set of libraries and a different set of tech stack.

To (quickly) check your android dev readiness, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1.    What do you use @Override annotation for?

2.   Why would you use an anonymous inner class for event handling?

3.   The extends keyword is used to inherit from a class while the implements keyword is used for what?

4.   A static member belongs to what? An instance member belongs to what?

5.   What is the difference between Runnable and Thread?

6.   When is finalize() method called, and who calls it?

7.   When will you use the addActionListener() method? Where do you usually use it?

These are pretty easy for an experienced Java programmer, if you were able to answer the above questions with confidence, you should be ready to dive into android programming.

But I am C# programmer

It’s nice to know that you are interested in android, I would have thought that the logical step forward is Windows 8 mobile programming (maybe you are also doing that but are curious with android).

You will not struggle a lot because Java and C# are actually more similar than they are different. You already are indoctrinated on OOP, know the difference between classes and objects and have the coded the basics of UI programming.

You will miss Visual Studio, especially the GUI builder. Yes there are GUI builders for android but they are not to the same level of ease like VS. You will be alright and will probably coast through it.

But I am PHP web programmer

You will need a basic Java background. Programming native apps for android is more akin to developing desktop apps rather than web apps.

To handle events in desktop apps, familiarity with the call-back concept is required (delegates for C# devs), as a web programmer you probably did not have a lot of chances to code this way. Web apps use the request-response mechanism of HTTP to handle events.