Persevering Day 4 and 5

Hello all,

Yesterday I was flooded with high school work so I was not able to even make any progress on any of my apps. Today however, I was able to get most of the code done and in addition some code for my other two apps which I plan to release this weekend. Those being Systems of Equations Buddy and Jazz Calculator. Looking forward to telling you guys about the release.
Happy coding,
Mike

Preserving Day 3

Hello all,

Same progress to report as day two except with a couple more quotes. I have been busy lately.

Happy coding,
Mike

Persevering Day 2

Hello all,

I started gathering quotes today and I hope to finish gathering them tomorrow. This is a relatively simple app to code so I am not concerned with starting my code right away.

Happy coding,
Mike

Groovy Calculator Day 2,3,4,5...ahhhhh

Hey guys!

As you can tell by the title and my activity on this blog, I have not posted in a really long long time. But first, here is Groovy Calculator which I published yesterday: Groovy Calculator. So anyway, what happened? Well high school got in the way of a lot of things, including my blogging. This "busyness" that prevented me from blogging sent me a strong message: I am not communicating with you guys at the level that I would like to communicate. From now on, I will try even harder to post everyday even if it is not much. Also, I need to do a much better job of posting my source code and screen shots along the way. Finally, I need to start blogging about my promises. The one I have in mind is translating. I am looking forward to my more active involvement in this blog.The app this week will be a series of inspirational facts  that will be called "Persevering". I hope to learn how to better manage multiple screens along with improving my layout design (which clearly needs work).
I am looking forward to this active involvement.
Happy coding,
Mike

Groovy Calculator Day 1

Hello all,
I started making the user interface of my newest app. Hope to finish the user interface tomorrow!
Sorry for the short post, not much to blog about... If any of you have questions about me or my apps feel free to email me at redefiningproductions@gmail.com
Happy coding,
Mike

Linear Equation Buddy Done!

Hello all,
Good News! Linear Equation Buddy was completed only in 5 days! The app is not on the Google Play Store just yet, but I will link you guys to it in my next blog post. I am starting to move away from these math quiz apps. I want to start moving into more complex applications. I expected this challenge to take me a week exactly. I will still continue my quiz apps, however, they will be done on the side and I will be mainly blogging about more complex apps here. Of course I will still mention my other apps even though they are not the main focus. Next week I plan to make an app called Groovy Calculator. This app will be a normal four-function calculator but with some groovy sounds. Although the idea is cheesy, I should be able to learn the process of making calculator apps and working with multiple sound pools at once. I will keep you guys all updated.
Happy coding,
Mike

Linear Equation Buddy Days 3 and 4

Hello all,

I was unable to create a blog entry yesterday because of this:

it consumed my entire afternoon.....yeah. 

It turned out that I needed to uninstall all of my software :O.

I only just recently re-installed everything that was previously on my laptop.

Now, moving onto happier news, I was able to finish the java code for my app! I just need to test out my app and publish it. As I am making more and more apps, the overall process becomes easier and routine. I plan in the feature to start making more and more complex apps. 

Hopefully, I will not run into anymore blue screen problems for the rest of the week haha.

Happy coding,

Mike 

A Fix! ...I Hope

Hello all,

Today I mainly spent trying to figure out what was the problem with my apps. After having my friend send me some error reports, I quickly knew. It turns out, that the MediaPlayer class was not the best to use for my app purposes. The MediaPlayer was causing many null variable errors. I then started using SoundPool. So far, SoundPool has worked! I just uploaded the update file to Google Play, so I am curios to see if the crashes persist or hopefully vanish. Again here are the links to my apps: Slope Buddy and Exponent Buddy.
I plan to continue with Linear Exponent Buddy tomorrow depending if I keep on receiving crashes on my apps. Anyway,
happy coding,
Mike

What is a Challenge Without a Challenge?

When I woke up today, I thought it was going to be an easy week in terms of making apps. It seemed I was going to be making an app similar to my previous one. In fact, I had already made most of my user interface until I got this : "Hey dude, ummmm your newest app is crashing...." and "Exponent Buddy keeps on crashing..."
I was surprised by this news. Now in addition to making Linear Equation Buddy, I need to figure out what went wrong so I can fix it in my next app.  This just pushes back all of my plans...ugh.
I am looking forward to ascertaining what is the major bug and hopefully fixing it for Linear Equation Buddy.
Happy coding,
Mike

Exponent Day 6 and Day 7

Hello all,
I have finally finished Exponent Buddy! The link is here. During the process of finishing the app, I changed the app help feature. Instead of bringing the user to a different screen (which I figured the user would get annoyed about) I made the same step-by-step help display on the same screen instead. Other than the help screen change, no other major changes were made to the display.
After this first week of this challenge, I learned a lot more about java than I thought I knew. I learned how to use different java classes along with intents, and developing more complex algorithms for my app. I gained a better understanding of the android app life cycle aswell. Finally, I became familiar with features that I have never used before; such as toasts, and multiple layout use.
I plan for my next app to be similar to the one aforementioned. I will call it Linear Equation Buddy and it will give the user unlimited linear equations to solve. This app should take me less time since I now know all the common bugs in creating multiple screens and activities. That brings me to my next topic, bugs. Over the course of making this app, I encountered several bugs which tested my determination to reach the deadline on time. I did end up prevailing and now there is more knowledge under my belt for me to start tackling bigger and more complex apps with similar principals as Exponent Buddy.
Soon I hope use my high school level Spanish to translate my app to Spanish so I can reach many more with their native language.
Looking forward to start Linear Equation Buddy next week.
Happy coding,
Mike

Exponent Buddy Day 5

Hello all,

Like the last post, this is not on the correct day. As a teenager, Fridays are oh so busy. Anyway, when I got home, I figured out application's main problem. It turns out, that I was not using Java Classes!  By not using Java Classes, I came up with so many null value errors in my code. After searching the internet I came upon this website. Then it was just a matter of transferring code to the activity and setting up what are called intents. Intents are responsible for changing screens. However with that great breakthrough, I fell asleep. Today I hope to finish the code. Tomorrow I plan release the English version of my app!
Happy coding,
Mike

Exponent Buddy Day 4

Hello all,

Sorry this post isn't exactly  on day four, I fell asleep trying to find some bugs in my code. Anyway, I did write a significant amount of the code for how the main activity will work. Unfortunately, I am still running into problems when I launch my app.
This quote sums up my feelings about debugging applications: "99 bugs in your code, 99 bugs in your code, take one fix it, 127 bugs in your code"
Happy coding,
Mike

Exponent Buddy Day 3

Hello all,

Today I worked on linking my user interface to my java code. In addition, I defined the key functions in creating random problems based on difficulty.
Tomorrow I look forward to allowing cross-screen navigation and communicating the functions and variables across the entire app.
Looking forward to completing this app!
Happy coding,
Mike

Day Two: UI

Hello all,

Today I was able to create the user interface (UI) for Exponent Buddy!!! Here are some screenshots of the application:

Start Screen

Help Screen

Main Screen

Along with the source code in xml! Code
Tomorrow I plan to start working on the functionality of the app and hooking up all the graphics into code so they can be used. 

Happy coding,

Mike

Ready, Get Set, Start!

Hello all,

I am truly excited to get this going this week! I recently published my first app yesterday, it's called Slope Buddy! To summarize, Slope Buddy is an app that allows you to continue practicing slope problems. The app contains unlimited questions so you can really master how to find the slope of a line. The app is multiple choice and includes a "Help" button which displays the slope formula. Every time you select an answer, you get instant feedback on your accuracy and the correct answer. I also managed to add a score feature. Here is a screenshot of the app aforementioned: 

  

Anyway, each Monday I plan to tell you about the app idea that I will attempt to make happen in the week following. My next idea will be Exponent Buddy. This new app will be just like the previous but with exponents instead, a difficulty level selector, and a much much better help system than Slope Buddy. Tomorrow I should be able to post the layout of the app and the XML! 

Happy Coding,

Mike

Welcome!

Hello everyone!

     This blog is where I will begin a long process of trying to publish an android application every week to the Google Play Store. I will start this blog tomorrow, October 6th. I am looking forward to a challenging yet exiting adventure!

Cheers!