# Need Mentor for Senior project



## TheWizKid95 (Jun 9, 2011)

Hey guys, I'm looking for a very experienced Android Developer to help me with my senior project for school. I'd like to learn about how to develop applications for Android. I'm very familiar with Android and have custom roms on both my Galaxy Nexus and my Nexus 7 and know how the system works and have done theming and mods, so it shouldn't be hard for me to get a grasp of developing. I have played around with eclipse and the ADT plugin and have read some about how applications in android work, but I would like to start fresh and act like I have no experience at all to refine what I already know. For my presentation, I was thinking about creating something like a browser that can navigate my school's website (http://www.longcountyhs.com/) and can show news, lunch menu, Faculty and staff, etc, and give a device to the judges so that they can play with it. Not only would I like to create an app related to my school, but I would also like to publish that app on the Play Store and sell it as a donation to the school. I will try to talk to my principal tomorrow to ask if it is fine with me publishing the app and using the school's colors, mascot, and information on the app. As for my mentor, (s)he has to be at least 21 years of age and be able to work with me for at least 10 hours. Our conversations have to be archived and most likely turn in as well, and I will have to mail or fax some papers to him/her in order for them to be signed and (s)he has to write a letter of recommendation as well. If you are interested, you could post here or PM me and show me of any work you have done before. If there is any other information that I may have forgotten, I will edit the OP or post in this thread. I am going to try to get my message across and get big blogs like Droid-Life or Android police to try and help me reach out to more developers. I really hope there are some friendly devs out there willing to help me graduate. Thank you for reading, and if you need any more information, please don't hesitate to ask!

-TheWizKid95


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## JBirdVegas (Jun 11, 2011)

Do you have any experience with java or OOP (Object Oriented Programming)? Because learning Java and producing a viable app is a large complex project. Also have you looked into if your schools website has a json or RSS output? If not your pretty much left just showing a webview or parsing the HTML by hand in java... which won't be fun.

But if you just want a webview with some menu key shortcuts then I think you can learn and produce that much code in your limited time frame.


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## TheWizKid95 (Jun 9, 2011)

JBirdVegas said:


> Do you have any experience with java or OOP (Object Oriented Programming)? Because learning Java and producing a viable app is a large complex project. Also have you looked into if your schools website has a json or RSS output? If not your pretty much left just showing a webview or parsing the HTML by hand in java... which won't be fun.
> 
> But if you just want a webview with some menu key shortcuts then I think you can learn and produce that much code in your limited time frame.


I do not really have any experience with either two, but I'd really like to learn. The project is due by the end of the school year (around march or April). I'm not sure if that would be enough, but I'm willing to try. But I'm not really sure about the situation with the website, but I can try and find out.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

You can also grab the html of the webpage and parse it out to get what you want, but if they change the site structure in the html, then you're screwed.

Saying you want to learn Android without learning Java beforehand is like learning how to run before you even learned how to walk.

You can sort of get by building apps without learning proper object-oriented design, but in the long run, it makes maintaining such apps extremely difficult--especially as the code base grows. One ends up writing code that works, but to change something, requires 100 changes elsewhere when not applying proper object-oriented design.


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## TheWizKid95 (Jun 9, 2011)

yarly said:


> You can also grab the html of the webpage and parse it out to get what you want, but if they change the site structure in the html, then you're screwed.
> 
> Saying you want to learn Android without learning Java beforehand is like learning how to run before you even learned how to walk.
> 
> You can sort of get by building apps without learning proper object-oriented design, but in the long run, it makes maintaining such apps extremely difficult--especially as the code base grows. One ends up writing code that works, but to change something, requires 100 changes elsewhere when not applying proper object-oriented design.


Yeah, I know that it's risky, but I still would like to give it a try. For now, I'm only interested in making a working app good enough for my project (unless I have less time), but after this, I will continue to try and learn Java and whatever else needed for android.


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## JBirdVegas (Jun 11, 2011)

Your missing the point android apps are written in java. You need to learn java to write an app at all.


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## JBirdVegas (Jun 11, 2011)

I don't want to discourage you because anyone can learn to write java but you must take the time to learn the small stuff before you move into complex web communication and user interfaces, UIs. We can HELP but your going to have to learn java to complete your project. Start here http://developer.android.com/training/basics/firstapp/index.html

And let us know when you hit a snag.


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## TheWizKid95 (Jun 9, 2011)

I'm sorry, I've been busy lol. But I understand that you need to learn java before you write android apps now. I thought you could work with the two using a graphical tool like eclipse and the adt plugin and learn java hands on. Maybe instead of asking for a mentor in android, i should ask for a mentor in Java. I have talked to someone nearby, and im awaiting his response but i'll keep this thread updated if I find someone. Thanks for the feedback guys!


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Get this book: http://www.amazon.co...a/dp/0596009208

It's made for those without programming experience.


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## mikeric (Aug 5, 2011)

I just got that book last week. I am a couple chapters in. I so far it seems really good. I a different approach from other programming books I have seen.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## TheWizKid95 (Jun 9, 2011)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twk95.lchs.browser


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## JBirdVegas (Jun 11, 2011)

OK so you may impress your teacher but you have not considered the fact the the content your displaying is dynamic and your representation is a completely static presentation.

(Meaning you will be forced to update simple docs when events change, BAD PROGRAMING!)

Not to mention you are pulling these docs from Google docs and the content is static (I hope you already see the problem) so instead of requiring an internet connection you could just include these SUPER simple text displays as XML assets or as (better method) define layouts and display information pulled from live content. Yea you will have to update the app when things change but since your app is almost nothing but some Webviews Google Play may remove your app from the market. Better programming is the answer.

Please don't get me wrong you are making progress but in the wrong direction... considering your senior project took you a week to finish, your not doing it right.

User eXperience (UX) should also be considered presenting a blanks screen with instructions to click somewhere that could be programmatically called in onCreate() is a good example for a poor UX... I you want humans to uses your work then write software your sure a chimpanzee could use

...what looks apparent to the developer is not always as apparent to the users, and at all costs don't require two clicks where one or none will do (if you insist on your current layout display something visually appealing while I figure out why I need to click on something to make the default menu appear)


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## TheWizKid95 (Jun 9, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it!
I figured I was doing something wrong lol.
But yeah, I knew it was a bad workaround to use webviews and google docs as the base of my app from the start, but I couldn't think of any other ways to do so
I used the "http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=" method to show some pdf files that were on the school's website since the user would need to install another app like adobe reader just to use mine, which I wouldn't like if i was the one using the app.
The only webview for google docs that isn't a pdf is "Senior Dates", which I thought about as well. The original document is not located online, but instead was given as a hand out at school, so i decided to make my own document and put it on my google docs so that I would be able to edit and cross off an event if it were to occur so that I would not have to update the app every time something happens.
The Lunch and Breakfast Menu activity were made so that the url changes every month since the school changes the menu every month as well. 
I'm still making progress and the app is wayyyy far from finished. I should really change the title on Google Play to "Beta" lol. But thank you, and please give me more suggestions, I would like to know what your take on this app would be 
Also, I never thought about having the menu show by default, but I'm really going to look into that now! Great idea! lol


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