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Introduction
Both of the first author’s (Jon’s) parents were artists. They each could draw fantastical pictures
that resembled real life, and were shocked to see that their son could barely muster up a stick
figure. If you’ve always felt that your inner artist was best expressed through what you could build
with the help of a computer and the Internet, then this book can guide your virtual paintbrush.
The finished product? A mobile web application for Android devices, which can in turn inspire
creativity and productivity in millions of prospective users. It is our hope that this book will give
you all that you need to get up and running and creating your masterpieces in no time.
Who This Book Is For
This book is written at a beginner’s level. For the most part, we assume nothing as we write about
everything from what HTML is to how to apply CSS to querying databases and displaying content
using JavaScript. For some, this may mean that they would like to skim certain introductory
materials (and assuredly miss many bad jokes). However, even advanced users will likely gain
something from the tricks we unroll our sleeves to reveal.
How This Book Is Structured
We’ve split the content in this book into several chapters, with three “unofficial” parts.
In the first part, we introduce you (Chapter 1) to the basic languages of the web: HTML, CSS,
JavaScript, and more. We then jump into two applications (Chapters 2–3) quickly to get your feet
wet, and then back out to discuss planning concerns you might need to address when designing
your own apps (Chapters 4–6)
In the second part, we start to jazz things up a bit. We go into building impressive user
interfaces (Chapter 7) and working with visual content (Chapter 8). We then show you two more
applications (Chapters 9–10) that speak to the unique nature of mobile applications: Using
location information to guide your apps (and users), as well as tapping into the cloud for
information and data.
Finally, in the last part, we talk about the next level of interactivity to add to your
applications. We touch on adding audio and video (Chapter 11), doing things behind the user’s
back to provide impressive functionality (Chapter 12) and wrapping it all up and uploading to the
web or building a full app for your formerly browser-bound creation (Chapter 13).
While we’ve grouped chapters into a logical order, after Chapter 1 you should feel free to
explore the rest of the content. While many topics build upon one another, reading what interests
you first may help you get a good grasp of what concepts from earlier chapters you’ll definitely
want to check out. At the same time, there are nuggets of information in each chapter that will
stand upon their own, especially discussions on design, psychology, and user experience! We
hope you enjoy the journey!
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