Hi there,

We are happy to announce the Android GCM Workshop. You need a beginner/ intermediate level in Android to get the most out of this workshop.

We will begin with a general presentation that explains the prerequisites for using GCM. Then we introduce a REST API to an existing third party application server. If you want, you can design your own, if not this third party server is available throughout the course to communicate with. When communication to the third party server has been sorted out, you will start implementation of the Android GCM app.

Important notice: You can RSVP here, but you have to buy a ticket via the official Appril workshop page! The entry fee for this workshop is €30 and includes coffee / tea, drinks, snacks and pizza.

The schedule:

16.30: Walk-in with coffee / tea, drinks and snacks.
17:00: Presentation GCM prerequisites and API flow

17:30: Workshop third party REST API & Workshop Android GCM App implementation (1/2)
18.30: Pizza break

19.00: Workshop Android GCM App implementation 2/2
20.30: Drinks & snacks

21:00: End

Prerequisites (important!)

To be prepared you need to have the following software installed. As avid Android fan we assume that you already have this installed, but it can't hurt to remind you.

Java Development Kit (JDK) 6 (download)

You can develop Android apps in a couple of languages, but for most apps Java is the preferred language. You need a Java Development Kit (JDK) to develop Android apps. A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is not sufficient.

Android Software Development Kit (Android SDK) - release 21 (download and install)

The Android Software Development Kit (SDK) is the base kit you need to be able to be able to build and package Android apps. Apart from the Android Framework (where you build your Android app against) the SDK provides you with a lot of tooling to run and test your app on your development system. For instance the SDK comes with an Android emulator which you can use to emulate all kinds of hardware. For the workshop you need to configure at least one Android Virtual Device (AVD), as these emulated devices are called, or you can simply develop apps on your own Android smartphone or tablet (and please, do bring them along!).

After downloading the Android SDK it is important that you at least install 1 Android platform (see "Adding Components"). For the workshop we use the latest platform (Jelly Bean 4.2.2 API 17) and maybe an old smartphone version (2.3.3) just in case, but the app should run fine on any platform, since we will be using the very basic stuff. Tip, also install the platform-tools, documentation, samples and the source code. These will come in handy when you want to know how Google has solved things in the framework itself.

Eclipse 4.2 (Juno) (download)

Eclipse is the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which is best suited for Android development, and which we will be using for the workshop. Simply download the latest (4.2 a.k.a. Juno) Eclipse IDE for Java Developers and you are all set.

Eclipse Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin - release 21 (download and install)

This is a plugin for Eclipse which basically makes the Android tools from the Android SDK available in Eclipse and makes your job as Android developer a lot easier. We will spend some time on the tools available in the ADT plugin in the first exercise.

Test your setup

Finally we want to ask you to create a simple "Hello World" Android project in Eclipse to test your setup. If you have a running "Hello World" app you are all set for the workshop!

Final notes

• The Android GCM Workshop will only be fun if you bring your own Android device that is connected to the internet. We cannot guarantee we have a good Wifi connection at the workshop location.
• Please bring all your Android devices, books and other cool stuff you would like to show off or use during the workshop. And if you won't be using them maybe your workshop neighbor is interested in using them during the workshop.

This workshop is part of the Appril initiative. Hope to see you in Appril!

Dennis Geurts & Johan Pelgrim