Android Basics: User Interface

with Udacity

Eric Kwoka
Sep 7, 2018 · 2 min read

I recently started the Udacity Android Basics course, most specifically the free version. Virtually the entire Android Basics Nanodegree (normally $599) is available for free, of course with the caveat that you don’t get any fancy certificate or real time with an instructor or reviews of your projects.

You don’t need any programming experience to take this course. If you’ve been using a smartphone to surf the web and chat with friends, then you’re our perfect target student!

I completed the first section entitled User Interface in about 5 hours spread across 4 days. And I managed to make an Android App!!!

Of course, due to the nature of the course requiring no real programming knowledge, it’s extremely basic and features no real interactivity (my version has super tiny interactivity from a Android Studio template).

But the course was rather solid. It really is for people with NO experience, of which I actually do have some of so parts can get a bit…baby friendly. But I took the process seriously, completing each and every little task and quiz, even when it was rather obvious. I know these things get exponentially more difficult so I should take the basics serious.

The final project of this first section simply required an app that loaded in Android with some very basic features to show understanding of layouts and basic views. Here’s what I slapped together:

Obviously rather simple, but users more than a few layouts and views. It took quite a lot of effort to get the image to position itself like that without simply using photoshop to crop and resize to something closer to the end goal, which is rather inefficient, but a nice bit of problem solving.

So, now it’s time to move on to User Input, and learn the basics of intents, and other user and important Android features! Hopefully my interest and commitment stays high, though starting another semester at school in a week may put a bit of a damper on the entire parade.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade