Should I learn Google App Inventor as a supplement to Java for Android

Question

Just curious. I am already a Java android guy but am interested in the new app inventor beta for android. I was wondering what "real" developers are thinking. A lot of people want to develop an android app but don't really have programming skills. Seems like a lot of apps could be written with app inventor - not sure since I haven't tried it yet.

Steven

Answer 1

Hopefully this clears up some things for people that are still just hearing about App Inventor. (Keep in mind App Inventor is extremely beta right now, so all of this is subject to change.)

If you're interested in playing around with some of the features it offers and haven't had the time or interest to get involved with the full Android SDK, then App Inventor is probably a good fit for you.

The interface of App inventor offers some unique features you won't find in the Android SDK and is pretty easy to get the hang of (make sure to look at the shortcuts for the Blocks editor, or it might start to feel tedious real fast). It has live debugging and live edits to both the interface and the supporting logic. That alone cuts down on time and frustration if you aren't quite sure about the proper way to do something yet and is probably my favorite feature of the whole system. New developers will especially find it rewarding to actually see their changes implemented on their phone without waiting for things to compile and run. It is a huge time saver and much easier to get used to than the traditional compile and wait process you face if you are trying to learn things through the SDK.

It is also quite handy if you have been playing around with the Android SDK and simply want to try something new out that App Inventor supports that you haven't had the time or aren't quite sure how to approach yet. So long as you keep things focused on features that App Inventor supports, this can provide valuable insight into understanding a problem by getting your phone doing something you can see and use in a matter of minutes. That's something even seasoned developers are likely to appreciate.

The real problem is more when you start hitting walls. Walls that you simply can't climb. And you quickly realize that the limits of this tool must be understood or you will probably spend a lot of time trying to do something that just isn't currently possible. Sooner or later your going find yourself in this position if you use App Inventor very much.

All coding is graphical.

Look at some of the demos or screen shots of what's available through the Blocks editor if you don't understand what that means. Setting values in those big colorful blocks is as close to code as you will get with App Inventor, for better or worse.

If you have any previous development experience, you are going to find yourself longing for the ability to do some simple coding to supplement what you are doing. Or at least the ability to export your project and pick up where you left off in Java. Sorry, this isn't that kind of tool.

Your only options when you get to this point are to pick up and start all over in code or forget about it, at least until the desired feature gets added to App Inventor (which may be never). That right there likely to irk a good number of people and turn them off to it.

If you are looking at getting into Android development, I see no problem with starting out with App Inventor. It might even save you hours of effort that might otherwise be spent trying to wrap your head around some concepts that are simple to understand when you do them, but a bit confusing if you are building them for the first time.

If you are a seasoned developer, or looking to make money or gain Android experience beyond just the concepts, this isn't your end destination by a long shot. If you are a student that is new to programming, this is probably a good environment with sufficient challenges and room to play around in to keep your interest for a decent amount of projects.

Despite it's current limits, I still see App Inventor as valuable resource to learning new concepts and as a playground for trying out new ideas. It is proving to be an awesome tool for introducing someone to Android development, and would probably do as good a job as you could ask for when introducing someone to programming in general.

Laurencelaurene

Do you know if it is possible to take a design done using the GUI of app inventor and "compile" it to something lower level, such as JavaScript or Java Byte Code? I am asking this as we want to add a low level feature to an existing app designed using the app inventor. So we need to support both low level stuff, plus still have what's done with APP inventor. – Tennes

Answer 2

I have been playing with it for a bit and my thoughts are that is is great for:

• An introduction to programming. It is not something people can pick up and develop great programs with straight away, it does still require a lot of thought and logical thinking, but it doesn't require people to learn the correct code syntax
• Prototyping. As it is relatively quick and easy to develop with (and has live debugging on the Android device), it allows you to prototype and see/interact with it in real time
• Quick coding. If you want to develop a program quickly, this might be the simplest tool

As the tool develops, it will allow more feature-rich applications (it already allows integration with other back-end programs, etc.). The screen design right now is very basic, but will be improved soon.

Overall, I think that if you know Java for Android, then you will be able to pick up Google App Inventor within an hour and start making some functional apps. You might find it more suitable for building some apps, or you might prefer to stick with your current tools.

For people looking to start programming, I think it is an excellent introduction. They can concentrate on logic and program design, instead of setting up their IDE, code structure and syntax. Plus they will see results as they code.

To answer your question 'Should I learn it'. I would suggest that you play with it for an evening - that is all it will take you to get a good feel of it.

Archangel

Answer 3

It probably won't make you a better developer, but all knowledge is good, so it can't hurt :)

I plan to play around with it anyway.

Desmid

Answer 4

The generic answer to any "Should I learn ..." question is usually "Yes, it can't hurt to know things." From a practical standpoint, I would skip it. These sorts of things are usually nice ideas that never catch on. Sure this might be a neat way for non-programmers to build very simple applications and perhaps a real programmer could build a compelling application with it but it looks like if you are a programmer the benefits to using App Inventor don't seem that compelling.

Marleen

I usually agree with that... But appInventor, along with comparable technologies, Scratch and Alice, have broken a barrier somewhat. Keep it in the corner of your eye. – Oriental

Answer 5

I haven't checked it out, but I think it might be worth a look to help in UI development. Most software engineers are good at really solving problems with software or coming up with cool ideas for apps, but when it comes to UI design we find a lot of obstacles. At least myself, I've always been used to working with UI Designers.

I honestly don't like tools that generate code, (except WSDL to java or java to WSDL) but pretty much anything else I find myself spending more time trying to trouble shoot an issue when it comes up than the time I would've spent writing the app from scratch...

Bide

I've looked at it, its not clear to me how it would help with UI anymore than existing tools. – Marleen

Hmm, oh well, I thought it had a good UI designer which is not included (or not really that good) in the Eclipse plug in... – Bide

Answer 6

Appinventor is so easy to learn, I would suggest go for both options. Concentrate most of your time on your main Dev environment and learn AppInventor, in the background, to give yourself a break. The advantage of Appinventor is you can put together reasonably complex apps in a relatively short period of time. It's also pretty forgiving, for example, if you have a numeric variable, you can treat it either as a string, or a numeric value, meaning you can put together prototypes pretty easily and quickly.

If you want an app putting together, quickly, Appinventor might be the better option, if you need something more powerful, more control over you UI etc, then a more sophisticated Dev environment might be called for. With Appinventor being so easy to use and learn, you're giving yourself more options.

Merralee

Answer 7

Considering Eclipse seems to introduce errors I can't find and can't remove--even after using Project-Clean, I'm looking forward to any alternative.

Laurencelaurene