What you need for this book

To follow along and experiment with the examples, you will need a development computer with a Java 7 (or 8) SE Development Kit and the Android Software Development Kit Version 9 or above (you will need at least Version 21 to try all of the examples).

You will also need Android Studio IDE. The examples have been developed using Google's new Android Studio IDE and use its integrated build system, Gradle.

While you can run the examples using the emulator provided by the Android SDK, it is a poor substitute for the real thing. A physical Android device is a much faster and more pleasurable way to develop and test Android applications!

Many of the examples will work on a device running any version of Android since 2.3, GingerBread. Some examples demonstrate newer APIs and as a result, require a more recent Android version—up to Android 5, Lollipop.