

Ask HN: Resources for iOS programmer to learn Android - fnayr

I've been coding in Objective-C for about 3 years, and I have a manageable understanding of Java. What are some good tutorials/resources for making the transition to Android from iOS?<p>The Google "Getting Started" tutorials were really clear and helpful, but I need more! Anything that makes comparisons of classes would be extremely helpful. For instance, it seems the Activity class is semi-equivalent to UIViewController class.<p>Side note: I find the emulator device/OS choices overwhelming. I knew there was fragmentation, but holy crap.
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stevenameyer
As an Android developer who has recently been doing some iPhone work, I don't
know any resources directly for iOS developers but these are some areas that I
think you should look into:

1) The activity life cycle model.[0] This is something that a lot of people
moving over to Android struggle with for some reason. A strong understanding
of this really helps.

2) Layout xml. In my opinion Layouts are a weak point for even reasonably
experienced Android developers. This is an area that leads to a ton of
performance issues if you don't think through it properly.

3)Device compatibility including targeting different SDKs[1] and different
screens[2].

4) Adapters.[3] They are the data structures that back most of Android and if
you are good with these there is a lot you can make with them pretty much
alone.

5) If you have the time I also recommend reading through the Android design
docs.[4] It helps give a bit of insight into what Android is trying to
accomplish and what is important in the eco system.

These are just a couple general areas that are important and different. If you
have more specific questions I'd be more then happy to help you out where I
can here or by email (information in profile).

Here are a couple of extra resources that are really good:

API Reference (always important):
<http://developer.android.com/reference/packages.html>

Romain Guy's Android blog: <http://www.curious-creature.org/category/android/>

[0][http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity....](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html)
[1][http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-
sdk-...](http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-
element.html)
[2][http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support...](http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html)
[3][http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/Adapte...](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/Adapter.html)
[4]<http://developer.android.com/design/index.html>

~~~
fnayr
Thanks for the thorough response. I've been going over all the resources the
past few days. It's very helpful.

------
perezda
I haven't found anything specific for iOS to Android, but I started with an
earlier version of these videos from Marakana -
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RHtKIo_KDI>

~~~
fnayr
Thanks, checking it out now.

