Welcome to the Mobile Application Development Module @ Edinburgh Napier University.
We introduce mobile platforms and in practicals we look at Android programming. This module covers the application development life-cycle for mobile apps. The module initially provides an overview of mobile platforms and then looks at the application development methodology used for mobile apps, taking into consideration the limitations of the mobile device platform and the opportunities provided through GPS, cloud services and orientation sensors.
Coursework
This will be given out around week 4 with a hand in deadline during week 11. Assignment demonstrations will occur during timetabled class meetings in weeks 11 and 12. Please note that your assignment will not be marked without a demo so ensure that you sign up for a demo slot once they are made available. This assignment will be worth 60% of your grade for the entire module.
The following link is to last years assignment and is for information only. It will give you an idea of what to expect this year so that you can start thinking about your personal project over the first few weeks of the trimester.
If you're having trouble coming up with an idea for a project, here is a list of previous topics/areas that students have created mobile apps for:
Past Exam Papers
The specific exam questions will change each year but the general format of the exam and style of questions will remain reasonably stable on a year to year basis. As a result it can be useful to look at past papers in order to get an idea of what to expect in the exam. Note that the exam is worth 40% of your grade for the entire module.
- 2014/15 Exam [pdf] | Resit [pdf]
- 2015/16 Exam [pdf] | Resit [pdf]
Learning Environment
Our learning environment is Android Studio. This is available on the lab machines and is free to download and install on your own laptop.
Workbook, Practical, & Notes
The workbook is organised in two parts, each organised by topic. Part 1 is a set of labs and part 2 is a set of notes. You should aim to work through roughly one chapter from each part per week, e.g. During the lab session work through part 1 chapter 1 during lab 1, then part 1 chapter 2 in lab 2, and so on.
During each lab you should read through the associated chapter, trying out the activities and examples described. The code for all examples is in the Git repository so you have something to refer to during the lab. Don't copy and paste code from the workbook, this usually leads to additional typos and mistakes, as well as making your code look awful. It is better to type things in as this is part of your deliberate practise. Generally, the more code you write, the better a developer you will becomes as a result.
Running through the examples for a given week should not take the entire session, once you are done you should experiment. Use the code from the workbook as a starting point and see what you can do. The Android Platform and Android Studio are complex tools that have many features and more functionality than can be covered in this module so it is important to discover things for yourself along the way.
It is worth downloading a fresh copy of the workbook each week as it is frequently edited during the trimester to fix typos and add new examples in response to your feedback.
Lectures
- Lecture 00 - Module Overview
- Lecture 01 - Introduction to Mobile Development
- Lecture 02 - Architectures & Platforms
- Lecture 03 - User Experience
- Lecture 04 - Development Methodologies
- Lecture 05 - Data Persistence
- Lecture 06 - Multimedia
- Lecture 07 - Graphics
- Lecture 08 - Connectivity
- Lecture 09 - Communications
- Lecture 10 - Sensors & Stimuli
- Bonus Lecture - Copyright
- Revision/Exam Preparation Lecture
Resources
- Module Wiki - You can also clone the entire wiki using Git if you want a local copy of your own
- Module Issue Tracker
- Module Git Repository You can clone the entire module using this clone URL
- Git Quickstart for Napier Students
- LaTeX Quickstart for Napier Students (using the ENU Report Template)
Reading
Because the Android platform is moving so fast, online resources are the best place to start:
- Android Developer Website - The Best place to get the latest information about the Android platform.
- Introduction to Android - The developer website has a lot of information but this is a good place to start your reading.
- Android Platform Documentation - The best way to find out how to use the platform effectively is to read the documentation for the feature you want to use.
There are also a bunch of books (available for download in both PDF & EPUB formats) via the Napier Library Springer Link subscription. The following are a good place to start but Springer publishes many others so don't limit your background reading just to these:
- Beginning Android
- Android Apps for Absolute Beginners
- Pro Android 5
- Android Recipes - Useful once you start working on your coursework assignment and have a specific feature that you are trying to implement.
The library also have a bunch of other books available in both paper and electronic formats. Finally there are also many blogs and articles published on the web by Android developers. Part of the role of a university student is to take the suggested reading materials as a starting point, then to build your own learning path by supplementing these with materials that you discover for yourself.
Contact
Simon Wells @siwells is the module leader for Mobile Application Development. You can contact him via email at s.wells@napier.ac.uk