Programs developed in Java with a Graphical interface have a specific thread which handles the interaction between the user and the graphical interface. This imposes certain restrictions on the use of developer defined threads which need to interact with the graphical interface.

Styles and “Drawables” can be combined to help you to define the appearance and style of specific graphical components.

As discussed on week 2 presentation, the graphical user interfaces should have user interface (UI) components created specifically for users in order to allow them interact with the apps. Android studio has a range of built in UI modules such as menus, dialogs and UI components such as layout objects and UI controls. The aim of these built in UI features is to enable developers to easily create the state of the art graphical user interface (GUI). Additionally, a range of standard platform resources can be used for designing and programming user interfaces. For instance, classes in the Java language can be used in android applications to shape apps behaviour by implementing various functionality of graphical components. Other than Java class files, XML data can also be used to declare screen layouts.

As discussed on week 1 presentation part 2, the Android platform has been designed to run on a different types of device, screen sizes, and screen resolutions. This impose lots of challenges to android developers in terms of providing rich components of user interfaces (UI) in response to the need of the specific applications. To overcome this, Android provides a user interfaces(UI) toolkit that can be used by developers to customise UI components of an applications. Android developers relies heavily on using XML framework to create liquid layout that can adapt to these environmental changes. In this week, we are going to use practical ways to shape this framework to fit your specific development needs. There are two important classes in the construction of graphical user interfaces, these are: Views ViewGroups

A big part of this module is about programming! You will have to demonstrate programming skills in relation to building an Android App for a device such as a Smartphone. Programming Activities Android Application Structure Basic Graphical Components Laying out the Components in an Application Algorithms and Data Structures Location Services Android Android is the target platform Support for development is provided via specific API’s Applications are run on an “Emulator" Android Studio Android Studio is a special tool called an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) Android Studio provides wizards to take the “drudgery” out of developing applications Download Android Studio using the link below or using steps shown on the getting started workbook provided at the footnote.

What is the Mobile Platform? Any portable device plus the software needed to run applications on a mobile device. Portable probably means on the move rather than just being small enough to carry. Late 1980s Compaq Portables! As can be seen on the pictures below some of the first portable devices that were introduced in the late 1980s, it was commonly known as the “Compaq luggable” and some called it “suitcase computer”.