What is an App?

• Chapter 14, App Architecture, in the App Inventor Book
• Introduction to Event Handlers

Component Properties

• Introduction
• Paintpot demonstrates the use of component properties, both in designer and blocks. AI1 AI2

Functions and Parameters

Functions are things an app can do, like vibrating the phone or sending a text. They are built-in to the App Inventor language and can be called by your apps.

• Hello Purr, step 3, demonstrates setting function parameters.

Variables

Variables are named memory cells, something like the cells in a spreadsheet. If your app needs to remember something and you don't have a component property to do that, you need a variable

• Paintpot introduces variables, check out step 3 AI1 AI2
• Chapter 16 from the App Inventor book

Conditionals

Conditionals are "if" and "if-else" blocks that allow the app to ask questions before determining what action to take.

• Introduction-- introduces if-blocks
• I Have a Dream Tutorial provides an introductory example
• Chapter 18 in the App Inventor book

Timing, Animation, and games

Animation-- action over time-- is a key concepts and a fun way to learn programming.

• TimedActivity-- How to program timed activity, including starting and stopping it.
• MoleMash-- clock timers and randomness AI1 AI2
• Smooth Animation-- an introduction to movement over time
• Shooter Game (AI1 only)-- moving characters, collisions, etc.
• Ladybug Chase-- uses the orientation sensor AI1 AI2

Texting

Texting is a great way to add a social element to an app.

• Love You App, an introductory lesson for texting, with worksheet
• No Text While Driving, a text answering machine.
• Texting over Wifi-- Texting without a Sim Card and using Google Voice

Location and Maps

• Introduction--LocationSensor, WebViewer, Google Maps, and a sample tracker app
• Android, Where's My Car? demonstrates the use of Location sensor.
• Map Tour demonstrates the use of Activity Starter and Google Maps

Lists

Lists are variables that represent multiple memory cells

• The President's Quiz introduces lists and indexes for walking through them AI1 AI2
• The Notetaker app demonstrates the use of (persistent) lists (AI1 only).

User-generated data

User-generated data is information added as an app runs, typically by the end-user entering data in a form. It is more complicated to program than static (fixed) data because the code is more abstract

• Notetaker-- the user enters notes in a Twitter-like form.
• Xylophone-- the user plays an instrument and the system records it. AI1 AI2
• MakeQuiz-TakeQuiz-- the "teacher" enters quiz questions, the "student" takes the quiz.
• BroadcastHub-- the system records a list of phone numbers who have texted in. AI1 AI2

Persistent Data

Persistent data is database data-- information that lives on even if you close and re-open an app

• Chapter 22 from the App Inventor book.
• No Text While Driving, step 4, provides a simple example of persistence with TinyDB.
• Android, Where's my Car?, step 4, provides a simple example of persistence with TinyDB.

Iteration

Iteration means to repeat blocks. Need to do something a thousand times, or on each item of a list-- you need iteration.

• Chapter 20 from the App Inventor book (foreach and while)
• The Notetaker app (AI1 only) uses a foreach to display a list of notes, see steps 3-5.
• The Math Blaster App (AI2 only). The MathBlaster app generates addition questions for students and checks their answers. It uses for range to generate a random number of items in the equation, and foreach to sum the numbers up. This tutorial is for App Inventor 2.

Procedures

Procedures are how you can turn a sequence of blocks into a single one that can be called/reused. They are fundamental to effective software engineering

• This Introduction to procedural abstraction, authored by Ellen Spertus, is terrific! (It's p. 47 of our book)
• MoleMash (AI1 AI2 ), LadyBug (AI1 AI2), and Xylophone (AI1 AI2) use simple procedures
• Chapter 21 in the App Inventor book
• Notetaker steps 6 and 8, provides advanced discussion of procedures

Software Engineering

• Chapter 15 in the App Inventor book

Web Data

Web data is persistent data that is shared amongst users and devices. App Inventor provides the TinyWebDB and Fusion Table components for this.

• Chapter 24 from the App Inventor book.
• Introduction to TinyWebDB-- includes video of a notetaker where notes are stored on web.
• Pizza Party sample using Fusion Tables-- tutorial by Ralph Morelli.
• How to setup your own TinyWebDB web service

Web APIs

Many organizations provide programmatic access to data through application programmer interfaces (APIs). Using the Web component, you can use such APIs to integrate and mashup data within your apps

• Stock Market App-- an app that accesses data from the Yahoo Finance API.
• Setup a TinyWebDB that calls an API-- Amazon sample