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I’m a Udacity Android for Beginners Graduate

This week, I officially graduated from Android for Beginners!

android-for-beginners-grad
And I’ve got a certificate on my fridge to prove it!

Now, you might be asking yourself, Jessica, you majored in engineering. Why are you so excited to graduate from a beginners program?

To which I would respond, What happened in your life that made you hate fun?

Though seriously, I wanted a course that would get me up-to-speed with the basics of developing for Android quickly. And since I’m no Java programmer, I decided to go with the beginner course.

Overall, it was a great experience. I now have a better understanding of how Android and iOS Development differ, and I don’t feel like a total n00b when my colleagues mention things like “intents” and “toast messages.” I even got to practice my Japanese skills in translating the in-class example app, Just Java. Two birds, one stone, there.

just-java-japanese
Though I changed the name to “Just Coffee.” I don’t know that the “Just Java” pun translates.

The final project in the course was to create an app that teaches a user five things. The app I built imparts very important knowledge…the knowledge of select superhero facts. After all, with the popularity of superhero movies these days, people should really know the original backstories of the characters seen onscreen.

The design is very simple: two TextViews, an ImageView, a ScrollView and a Button. When the button is pressed, details on either Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Spider-Gwen, Squirrel Girl, or Doctor Strange appear on screen. And because I couldn’t help myself, I also included some logic to ensure the same hero wasn’t picked twice in a row.

superheroFacts-example
IMHO, Scarlet Witch was way cooler when she was Magneto’s daughter.

You can find the whole project on my GitHub.

Moving forward, I’m trying to decide between returning to the iOS Developer Nanodegree and continuing progress there, or teaching myself Java so that I can go deeper into Android development. Ahh, decisions, decisions.

Published inandroid

4 Comments

  1. Hi Jessica, I would like to learn coding but from I could start?

  2. I’m one of Jessica’s students at Udacity doing Front End Dev + Android Basics Nanodegree and am so happy to do them alongside from Udacity. Jessica, you are a very nice and interesting tutor. I wish i had such tutors during early stages of education.

  3. Avishka Avishka

    Good job, Jessica. Can you tell me how did you get the certificate after finishing the course.

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