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By, Joe O'Brien With the advent of JRuby many doors have been opened that were not before for Ruby. One particular place is the android platform. Using Ruby, we can easily leverage the Android platform and API's to create incredible applications. Since we are using Ruby, testing becomes a trivial exercise. I'll walk through the options we have for developing full feature-rich applications for both the Android tablet and the phone. I'll show how we can use JRuby to sidestep the complexity and configuration-heavy frameworks that are traditionally for Android development. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/GJEv/
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In the presentation titled *Ruby on Android* by Joe O'Brien at the MountainWest RubyConf 2011, the speaker explores the integration of Ruby with the Android platform using JRuby. He shares his personal journey in learning Android development, transitioning from traditional Java methods to a Ruby-centric approach, facilitated by JRuby. Throughout the talk, O'Brien highlights several key aspects of Android development, emphasizing how Ruby can simplify and enhance the process. **Key Points Discussed:** - **Introduction to Android Development:** - Android, an operating system by Google, traditionally relies on Java, which is complex and bulky. - O'Brien compares his experiences with Android development to that of iOS, finding Android's environment more pleasant. - **Development Environment Setup:** - Setting up the Android development environment involves downloading packages and utilizing virtual devices for testing. - He discusses the challenge of replicating actual device specifications with virtual machines. - **Tools and Frameworks:** - Most documentation favors using Eclipse; however, O'Brien argues for alternatives like the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) for command-line interaction, which simplifies the development process. - He emphasizes the importance of understanding the Dalvik virtual machine, Android's runtime environment for apps. - **Understanding Android Architecture:** - O'Brien explains Android's fundamental components like activities (controller for UI), broadcast receivers (event listeners), and content providers (data management). - He recommends starting with Java to grasp these concepts before diving into Ruby. - **JRuby's Role in Android Development:** - JRuby, built on the Java Virtual Machine, facilitates Ruby development for Android, despite its own set of challenges. - O'Brien introduces the Roboto library, which simplifies JRuby usage by generating boilerplate code that conforms to Java's structure. - **Development Challenges and Solutions:** - O'Brien discusses issues encountered while managing global variables and suggests looking into the Pinda library for better performance and testing. - He shares an anecdote about developing an application called Garrett to experiment with JRuby on Android, highlighting trial and error in the learning process. - **Conclusion and Resources:** - He encourages deeper exploration of the JRuby community and resources available for Android development, emphasizing that while complexities exist, support is available through community projects. - O'Brien concludes with responses to audience questions, addressing common issues and encouraging ongoing collaboration.
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