You're reading from Learning Java by Building Android Games Learn Java and Android from scratch by building five exciting games

Product type Paperback

Published in Mar 2021

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781800565869

Length 686 pages

Edition 3rd Edition

Languages

Java

Tools

Android

Concepts

Mobile Game Development

Author (1):

John Horton

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Table of Contents (24) Chapters

Preface

1. Chapter 1: Java, Android, and Game Development

2. Chapter 2: Java – First Contact FREE CHAPTER

3. Chapter 3: Variables, Operators, and Expressions

4. Chapter 4: Structuring Code with Java Methods

5. Chapter 5: The Android Canvas Class – Drawing to the Screen

6. Chapter 6: Repeating Blocks of Code with Loops

7. Chapter 7: Making Decisions with Java If, Else, and Switch

8. Chapter 8: Object-Oriented Programming

9. Chapter 9: The Game Engine, Threads, and the Game Loop

10. Chapter 10: Coding the Bat and Ball

11. Chapter 11: Collisions, Sound Effects, and Supporting Different Versions of Android

12. Chapter 12: Handling Lots of Data with Arrays

13. Chapter 13: Bitmap Graphics and Measuring Time

14. Chapter 14: Java Collections, the Stack, the Heap, and the Garbage Collector

15. Chapter 15: Android Localization – Hola!

16. Chapter 16: Collections and Enumerations

17. Chapter 17: Manipulating Bitmaps and Coding the Snake Class

18. Chapter 18: Introduction to Design Patterns and Much More!

19. Chapter 19: Listening with the Observer Pattern, Multitouch, and Building a Particle System

20. Chapter 20: More Patterns, a Scrolling Background, and Building the Player's Ship

21. Chapter 21: Completing the Scrolling Shooter Game

22. Chapter 22: What Next?

23. Other Books You May Enjoy

Why Java, Android, and games?

When Android first arrived in 2008, it was a bit drab compared to the much more stylish iOS on the Apple iPhone/iPad. However, quite quickly, through diverse handset offers that struck a chord with the practical price-conscious and the fashion-conscious and tech-savvy, Android user numbers exploded.

For many, myself included, developing Android games is the most rewarding pastime and business.

Quickly putting together a prototype of a game idea, refining it, and then deciding to run with it and wire it up into a fully fledged game is such an exciting and rewarding process. Programming can be fun, and I have been programming all my life. However, creating games, especially for Android, is somehow extraordinarily rewarding.

Explaining exactly why this is is quite difficult. Maybe it is the fact that the platform is free and open. You can distribute your games without requiring the permission of a big controlling corporation – nobody can...