Learning MIT App Inventor: A Hands-On Guide to Building Your Own Android Apps

With MIT’s App Inventor 2, anyone can build complete, working Android apps--without writing code! This complete tutorial will help you do just that, even if you have absolutely no programming experience.

Unlike books focused on the obsolete Google version, Learning MIT App Inventor is written from the ground up for MIT’s dramatically updated Version 2.

The authors guide you step-by-step through every task and feature, showing you how to create apps by dragging, dropping, and connecting puzzle pieces--not writing code. As you learn, you’ll also master expert design and development techniques you can build on if you ever do want to write code.

Through hands-on projects, you’ll master features ranging from GPS to animation, build high-quality user interfaces, make everything work, and test it all with App Inventor’s emulator. (You won’t even need an Android device!)

All examples for this book are available at theapplanet.com/appinventor

Coverage includes:

• Understanding mobile devices and how mobile apps run on them
• Planning your app’s behavior and appearance with the Designer
• Using the Blocks Editor to tell your app what to do and how to do it
• Creating variables and learning how to use them effectively
• Using procedures to group and reuse pieces of code in larger, more complicated apps
• Storing data in lists and databases
• Using App Inventor’s gaming, animation, and media features
• Creating more sophisticated apps by using multiple screens
• Integrating sensors to make your app location-aware
• Debugging apps and fixing problems
• Combining creativity and logical thinking to envision more complex apps

Derek Walter is a freelance writer specializing in the mobile ecosystem. He contributes regularly to PCWorld, Macworld, Greenbot, and other sites devoted to consumer technology. He also blogs about mobile apps and other topics in technology at theapplanet.com. His undergraduate degree is in mass communication/journalism, and he holds a master’s degree in educational technology from The George Washington University. Derek has also worked in education for the last 15 years as a classroom teacher and adjunct university instructor.

Mark Sherman is a researcher in computer science education and has taught computing, programming, and robotics to undergraduates in the U.S., India, and China. He is an MIT App Inventor Master Trainer, and he has taught students mobile app design with App Inventor and trained teachers and faculty on best practices and pedagogy of the same. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and a master’s degree in computer science, both from UMass Lowell.