<div dir="ltr"><div>I'm doing some development on Android using the standard Java and Eclipse environment. Eclipse is a bear, but it has the only readily available Android screen designer. Right now I'm kind of in the weeds due to the evils of the LG G2x P999 phone I bought used as a development environment, but I hope to dig out of that trouble soon. If you're gonna root your smartphone and install a 3rd party build, look for an HTC one. The LGs are a real pain to work with.<br>
<br></div>-- CHS<br><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 11:03 PM, Byron Jeff <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:byronjeff@mail.clayton.edu" target="_blank">byronjeff@mail.clayton.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="im">On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 04:17:46PM -0800, David Tomaschik wrote:<br>
><br>
> There's "Scripting Layer For Android, or<br>
</div>> SL4A": [1]<a href="https://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/" target="_blank">https://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/</a>, but I can't imagine<br>
<div class="im">> trying to commercialize an app written on that.<br>
<br>
</div>There's no particular reason why it cannot be done. SL4A is middleware that<br>
interfaces scripting languages such as Python, Perl, PHP, Lua, and<br>
Javascript to the underlaying Android System via Java facades and JSON for<br>
data transfer. It has UIs including dialog based screens, webview<br>
interfaces, and a more recently added Full Screen UI which uses standard<br>
Android screen layouts. While by default it requires installing the development<br>
environment and language of choice in order to get to work, there is a<br>
working Eclipse packaging system that packages SL4A, the target language,<br>
and the script into a standard APK that can be deployed normally.<br>
<br>
I find it works well as an application sketchpad because it supresses the<br>
need to declare all the support infrastructure to get things going. In<br>
Python, simply importing the Android module and declaring an Android object<br>
is all that's required to gain access to all the facades. Plus all of<br>
standard Python is there to boot.<br>
<br>
It isn't perfect by any means. I've complained about the lacking broadcast<br>
intent capture/dispatch interface for a while now. I ended up writing my<br>
own in Java that captures certain broadcast intents and fires off script<br>
coupled to the intent. Also recently I found that there isn't sufficient<br>
permission to access content providers such as the calendar.<br>
<br>
But it can certainly handle small tasks, and serve as a sketchpad for<br>
larger, more complex ones.<br>
<br>
BAJ<br>
<div class="im"><br>
> There's the Android NDK<br>
> which allows you to write C/C++ that's then linked into the Dalvik VM, so<br>
> you still need a small Java app to load the NDK code (plus then you need a<br>
> separate NDK app for each architecture.)<br>
> AppInventor is pretty cool, but you'll still need more work to do complex<br>
> things.<br>
> David<br>
> On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 2:27 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE)<br>
</div><div><div class="h5">> <[2]<a href="mailto:atllinuxenthinfo@techstarship.com">atllinuxenthinfo@techstarship.com</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> I'm considering doing some android development, mainly for hobby level<br>
> playing with my tablet, as opposed to commercialization. If I came up<br>
> with something really cool, I wouldn't mind commercializing it.<br>
> I don't necessarily want to learn Java for a few different reasons related<br>
> to security, kludgy code, etc. So, I have the following questions?<br>
> A) Is anyone developing for Android in a language other than Java? If so,<br>
> how do you like it?<br>
> B) Has anyone tried AppInventor, formerly from Google and now MIT? If so,<br>
> how do you like it?<br>
> C) Is there any viable alternative to Java for developing and<br>
> commercializing moderately complex android apps? Think apps like, a text<br>
> editor, a contact database, a basic music player, a movie database, a<br>
> metric units converter, etc.<br>
> Sincerely,<br>
> Ron<br>
> --<br>
> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9<br>
> Mail.<br>
> Please excuse my potential brevity.<br>
> (To whom it may concern. My email address has changed. Replying to<br>
> former<br>
> messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong<br>
> address. Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)<br>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to<br>
> call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy<br>
> mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very<br>
> quickly.)<br>
> Ron Frazier<br>
</div></div>> [3]770-205-9422 (O) Leave a message.<br>
> linuxdude AT [4]<a href="http://techstarship.com" target="_blank">techstarship.com</a><br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
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<div class="im">> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at<br>
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<div class="im">><br>
> --<br>
> David Tomaschik<br>
> OpenPGP: 0x5DEA789B<br>
</div>> [8]<a href="http://systemoverlord.com" target="_blank">http://systemoverlord.com</a><br>
> [9]<a href="mailto:david@systemoverlord.com">david@systemoverlord.com</a><br>
><br>
> References<br>
><br>
> 1. <a href="https://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/" target="_blank">https://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/</a><br>
> 2. mailto:<a href="mailto:atllinuxenthinfo@techstarship.com">atllinuxenthinfo@techstarship.com</a><br>
> 3. tel:<a href="tel:770-205-9422" value="+17702059422">770-205-9422</a><br>
> 4. <a href="http://techstarship.com/" target="_blank">http://techstarship.com/</a><br>
> 5. mailto:<a href="mailto:Ale@ale.org">Ale@ale.org</a><br>
> 6. <a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale" target="_blank">http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale</a><br>
> 7. <a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo" target="_blank">http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo</a><br>
> 8. <a href="http://systemoverlord.com/" target="_blank">http://systemoverlord.com/</a><br>
> 9. mailto:<a href="mailto:david@systemoverlord.com">david@systemoverlord.com</a><br>
<div class="im"><br>
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<br>
--<br>
</div>Byron A. Jeff<br>
Chair: Department of Computer Science and Information Technology<br>
College of Information and Mathematical Sciences<br>
Clayton State University<br>
<a href="http://faculty.clayton.edu/bjeff" target="_blank">http://faculty.clayton.edu/bjeff</a><br>
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