Chapter 1. Beginning Android and Java

Welcome to Android Programming for Beginners, Second Edition. In this first chapter, we won't waste any time in getting started developing Android apps.

We will look at what is so great about Android, what exactly Android and Java are, how they work and complement each other, and what that means to us as future developers.

Moving quickly on, we will set up the required software so we can build and deploy a simple first app.

By the end of this chapter, we will have have achieved the following:

• Discovered what is new in this second edition
• Learned how Java and Android work together
• Set up our development environment, Android Studio, which takes care of all the components involved in building Android apps that we will learn about next
• Learned about the Java Development Kit (JDK), the Android Application Programming Interface (API), and how we use them through Android Studio
• Built our very first Android app
• Deployed the app on an Android emulator
• Run our app on an Android emulator and a real device

That's a lot to get through, so let's get started.