It is October first. It is the start of a fascinating time. Today is the
deadline for me to start programming my 3D engine in Android. The last
few months I have spent getting acquainted with Android. Testing out
several development platforms and deciding which one I will choose to
carry me into the future in Android development.
While it is mid
night and time to sleep, I cant wait to type the first line of code in a
new project that will transform over time into what I aim to be a
fantastic 3D engine, and learning so much more than what I have already.
What do you do when you know everything? You learn that you don't
until you do. As a human race, we will always be in that paradox, and
that is the best part and its fun! So let the fun begin!
Friday 30 September 2016
Friday 23 September 2016
Over a month later update
Hi,
It's been over a month later since my last update. It has been a busy time work wise but I have also realised that I have not posted much with regards to how my Android development learning is going.
Sometimes some things has to take precedence and so it did. The Android development did reduce as a result. However it is progressing towards that 3D engine.
Android Studio 2.2 has been released with a host if interesting features. The most important for me which I haven't had a chance to explore yet is the GPU debugging and improvements to its C++ support. Also the last time I talked about Android was when I was deciding whether to use Android Studio or Visual Studio for the development. I have chosen to go with Android Studio so I will discuss this first.
Google has pulled support for ADT for Eclipse and that rang some alarm bells. Visual studio relies on Cordova and Xamarin to provide the cross platform programming for Android. However given Googles recent moves I feel that Google is going to work on Android Studio as their focus and version 2.2 brings in some spectacular changes. Although at the moment I feel that Visual studio is a far superior IDE for development, I cannot see myself developing Android in it with the risk that Android Studio will be the more preferred. Android Studio also provides IntelliJ and 2.2 brings even more improvements to that. Given these odds I felt compelled to use Android Studio for Android development.
So what have I learnt for Android so far? Quite a bit. Setting up emulators, images, etc. But peering into the UI, its use of xml to make component changes. Modifying Gradle scripts. Learning the signature of the IDE that is Android Studio. By Signature I mean every IDE does something every other IDE does but in its own way, its signature. For instant "Nuget plugins" in Visual Studio versus "JetBrains" plugins in Android Studio and so forth. I had never had to use JNI in Java previously but it was an interesting experience to learn how to get two-way communication going between Java and C++ and this is just the ticket to keep the UI in Java and the heavy lifting in C++.
It is a new and fantastic experience. In many ways however the crucial of which is that it is something new to learn. We as a species thrive, and improve when there are new things to learn, to build, to go beyond what we ever thought possible. From the world being flat to setting foot on the moon. Programming for Android pales in comparison to those amazing events like sending robots to Mars, but it stands with them because its an achievement, an aim, an opportunity to produce new things. That is how I am feeling right now and it is amazing.
It's been over a month later since my last update. It has been a busy time work wise but I have also realised that I have not posted much with regards to how my Android development learning is going.
Sometimes some things has to take precedence and so it did. The Android development did reduce as a result. However it is progressing towards that 3D engine.
Android Studio 2.2 has been released with a host if interesting features. The most important for me which I haven't had a chance to explore yet is the GPU debugging and improvements to its C++ support. Also the last time I talked about Android was when I was deciding whether to use Android Studio or Visual Studio for the development. I have chosen to go with Android Studio so I will discuss this first.
Google has pulled support for ADT for Eclipse and that rang some alarm bells. Visual studio relies on Cordova and Xamarin to provide the cross platform programming for Android. However given Googles recent moves I feel that Google is going to work on Android Studio as their focus and version 2.2 brings in some spectacular changes. Although at the moment I feel that Visual studio is a far superior IDE for development, I cannot see myself developing Android in it with the risk that Android Studio will be the more preferred. Android Studio also provides IntelliJ and 2.2 brings even more improvements to that. Given these odds I felt compelled to use Android Studio for Android development.
So what have I learnt for Android so far? Quite a bit. Setting up emulators, images, etc. But peering into the UI, its use of xml to make component changes. Modifying Gradle scripts. Learning the signature of the IDE that is Android Studio. By Signature I mean every IDE does something every other IDE does but in its own way, its signature. For instant "Nuget plugins" in Visual Studio versus "JetBrains" plugins in Android Studio and so forth. I had never had to use JNI in Java previously but it was an interesting experience to learn how to get two-way communication going between Java and C++ and this is just the ticket to keep the UI in Java and the heavy lifting in C++.
It is a new and fantastic experience. In many ways however the crucial of which is that it is something new to learn. We as a species thrive, and improve when there are new things to learn, to build, to go beyond what we ever thought possible. From the world being flat to setting foot on the moon. Programming for Android pales in comparison to those amazing events like sending robots to Mars, but it stands with them because its an achievement, an aim, an opportunity to produce new things. That is how I am feeling right now and it is amazing.
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