1 excludeFromSuggestions=true 2 page.title=Notepad Tutorial 3 @jd:body 4 5 6 <p>The tutorial in this section gives you a "hands-on" introduction 7 to the Android framework and the tools you use to build applications on it. 8 Starting from a preconfigured project file, it guides you through the process of 9 developing a simple notepad application and provides concrete examples of how to 10 set up the project, develop the application logic and user interface, and then 11 compile and run the application. </p> 12 13 <p>The tutorial presents the notepad application development as a set of 14 exercises (see below), each consisting of several steps. You can follow along 15 with the steps in each exercise and gradually build up and refine your 16 application. The exercises explain each step in detail and provide all the 17 sample code you need to complete the application. </p> 18 19 <p>When you are finished with the tutorial, you will have created a functioning 20 Android application and learned in depth about many of the most important 21 concepts in Android development. If you want to add more complex features to 22 your application, you can examine the code in an alternative implementation 23 of a notepad application, in the 24 <a href="{@docRoot}samples/NotePad/index.html">Sample Code</a> documentation. </p> 25 26 27 <a name="who"></a> 28 <h2>Who Should Use this Tutorial</h2> 29 30 <p>This tutorial is designed for experienced developers, especially those with 31 knowledge of the Java programming language. If you haven't written Java 32 applications before, you can still use the tutorial, but you might need to work 33 at a slower pace. </p> 34 35 <p>The tutorial assumes that you have some familiarity with the basic Android 36 application concepts and terminology. If you aren't yet familiar with those, you 37 should read <a href="{@docRoot}intro/anatomy.html">Overview of an Android 38 Application</a> before continuing. </p> 39 40 <p>Also note that this tutorial uses 41 the Eclipse development environment, with the Android plugin installed. If you 42 are not using Eclipse, you can follow the exercises and build the application, 43 but you will need to determine how to accomplish the Eclipse-specific 44 steps in your environment. </p> 45 46 <a name="preparing"></a> 47 <h2>Preparing for the Exercises</h2> 48 49 <p>This tutorial builds on the information provided in the <a 50 href="{@docRoot}intro/installing.html">Installing the SDK</a> and <a 51 href="{@docRoot}intro/hello-android.html">Hello Android</a> 52 documents, which explain in detail how to set up your development environment 53 for building Android applications. Before you start this tutorial, you should 54 read both these documents, have the SDK installed, and your work environment set up.</p> 55 56 <p>To prepare for this lesson:</p> 57 58 <ol> 59 <li>Download the <a href="codelab/NotepadCodeLab.zip">project 60 exercises archive (.zip)</a></li> 61 <li>Unpack the archive file to a suitable location on your machine</li> 62 <li>Open the <code>NotepadCodeLab</code> folder</li> 63 </ol> 64 65 <p>Inside the <code>NotepadCodeLab</code> folder, you should see six project 66 files: <code>Notepadv1</code>, 67 <code>Notepadv2</code>, <code>Notepadv3</code>, 68 <code>Notepadv1Solution</code>, <code>Notepadv2Solution</code> 69 and <code>Notepadv3Solution</code>. The <code>Notepadv#</code> projects are 70 the starting points for each of the exercises, while the 71 <code>Notepadv#Solution</code> projects are the exercise 72 solutions. If you are having trouble with a particular exercise, you 73 can compare your current work against the exercise solution.</p> 74 75 <a name="exercises"></a> 76 <h2> Exercises</h2> 77 78 <p>The table below lists the tutorial exercises and describes the development 79 areas that each covers. Each exercise assumes that you have completed any 80 previous exercises.</p> 81 82 <table border="0" style="padding:4px;spacing:2px;" summary="This 83 table lists the 84 tutorial examples and describes what each covers. "> 85 <tr> 86 <th width="120"><a href="{@docRoot}intro/tutorial-ex1.html">Exercise 87 1</a></th> 88 <td>Start here. Construct a simple notes list that lets the user add new notes but not 89 edit them. Demonstrates the basics of <code>ListActivity</code> and creating 90 and handling 91 menu options. Uses a SQLite database to store the notes.</td> 92 </tr> 93 <tr> 94 <th><a href="{@docRoot}intro/tutorial-ex2.html">Exercise 2</a></th> 95 <td>Add a second Activity to the 96 application. Demonstrates constructing a 97 new Activity, adding it to the Android manifest, passing data between the 98 activities, and using more advanced screen layout. Also shows how to 99 invoke another Activity to return a result, using 100 <code>startActivityForResult()</code>.</td> 101 </tr> 102 <tr> 103 <th><a href="{@docRoot}intro/tutorial-ex3.html">Exercise 3</a></th> 104 <td>Add handling of life-cycle events to 105 the application, to let it 106 maintain application state across the life cycle. </td> 107 </tr> 108 <tr> 109 <th><a href="{@docRoot}intro/tutorial-extra-credit.html">Extra 110 Credit</a></th> 111 <td>Demonstrates how to use the Eclipse 112 debugger and how you can use it to 113 view life-cycle events as they are generated. This section is optional but 114 highly recommended.</td> 115 </tr> 116 </table> 117 118 119 <a name="other"></a> 120 <h2>Other Resources and Further Learning</h2> 121 <ul> 122 <li>For a lighter but broader introduction to concepts not covered in the 123 tutorial, 124 take a look at <a href="{@docRoot}kb/commontasks.html">Common Android Tasks</a>.</li> 125 <li>The Android SDK includes a variety of fully functioning sample applications 126 that make excellent opportunities for further learning. You can find the sample 127 applications in the <code>samples/</code> directory of your downloaded SDK.</li> 128 <li>This tutorial draws from the full Notepad application included in the 129 <code>samples/</code> directory of the SDK, though it does not match it exactly. 130 When you are done with the tutorial, 131 it is highly recommended that you take a closer look at this version of the Notepad 132 application, 133 as it demonstrates a variety of interesting additions for your application, 134 such as:</li> 135 <ul> 136 <li>Setting up a custom striped list for the list of notes.</li> 137 <li>Creating a custom text edit view that overrides the <code>draw()</code> 138 method to 139 make it look like a lined notepad.</li> 140 <li>Implementing a full <code>ContentProvider</code> for notes.</li> 141 <li>Reverting and discarding edits instead of just automatically saving 142 them.</li> 143 </ul> 144 </ul> 145
