This book is tor anyone interested in creating applications for the Android platform. It includes information that will be valuable, whether you’re an experienced mobile developer or making your first foray, via Android, into writing mobile applications. 

It will help if you have used smartphones (particularly phones running Android), but it’s not necessary, nor is prior experience in mobile application development.

It’s expected that you’ll have some experience in software development and be familiar with basic object-oriented development practices. An understanding of Java syntax is a requirement, and detailed knowledge and experience is a distinct advantage, though not a strict necessity.

Chapters 1 and 2 introduce mobile development and contain instructions to get you startedin Android. Beyond that, there’s no requirement to read the chapters in order, although a good understanding of the core components described in Chapters 3-9 is important before you venture into the remaining chapters. Chapters 10 and 11 cover important details on how to create an application that provides a rich and consistent user experience, while Chapters 12-19 cover a variety of optional and advanced functionality and can be read in whatever order interest or need dictates.