How many times have you looked at an app and thought, “I could have come up with that?” Or how often have you found yourself frustrated with an inability to track down an app you really need, but no one seems to have released anything along those lines yet? Still, going from a curiosity in app development to actually producing anything sounds like a daunting proposition, and one with a steep learning curve. Is there any way to ease yourself into the world of mobile software? We’ve already seen efforts like the Windows Phone app studio aimed at lowering the bar for what it takes to get started with development, and today we check out something along those lines from Google, as it announces the Developing Android Apps: Android Fundamentals course from Udacity.
The idea here is to find people who have some existing background in programming but aren’t necessarily up to speed with what it means to develop code for Android, or even smartphones in general, and help bring them on board.
Now, Udacity guided courses are for-pay services, giving customers interactive feedback from coaches, but the important part here for this Android Fundamentals class (developed with assistance from Google) is that all the course materials, including instructional videos and quizzes, are available totally free. That lets potential Android devs guide themselves through the program without needing to make any big investment.
As Google’s mobile presence expands into new wearable sectors, it needs all the quality apps it can get its hands on in order to give users rich experiences, and continuing to court devs with programs like this one are part of the company’s effort to try and keep ahead of that curve.
Anyone thinking of giving this one a shot?
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