Learn to Program with App Inventor

A Visual Introduction to Building Apps

by Lyra Blizzard Logan

November 2019, 200 pp.

ISBN-13:

9781593279684

Look Inside!

Download Chapter 3: Fruit Loot: Creating a Simple Animated Game

Build a mobile phone app!

You've swiped and tapped your way through countless apps, but have you ever created one? Now you can, thanks to Learn to Program with App Inventor. In less than an hour, you'll be able to build and run your first app! App Inventor is a free software for making Android apps. All you need is a PC with an Internet connection to build your app, and a mobile phone for testing. You'll use a simple drag-and-drop interface, which minimizes errors and avoids too much typing. A certified App Inventor Master Trainer, Logan breaks down each project into logical steps, lists the components you'll need, and then shows you how to create screen designs, control program flow with conditionals and loops, and store data in variables and lists. Once you've tested the app on your phone, you can test what you learned with challenges at the end of each chapter. You'll build cool apps like:

Hi, World!: Use your voice to send a text message
Practice Makes Perfect: Rehearse a speech or dance routine with this video recording app
Fruit Loot: Catch randomly failing fruit in this exciting game
Beat the Bus: Track a friend’s journey using location services and maps
Virtual Shades: Take a selfie, then try on some virtual sunglasses

Join the 10 million people who have tried App Inventor, and make the journey from app user to app inventor.

Author Bio

Lyra Blizzard Logan is a certified Perl, JavaScript and Database Design Specialist and Web Development Professional, who develops web applications using PHP and MySQL. She is an MIT Master Trainer in Educational Mobile Computing (App Inventor) and holds graduate certificates in Instructional Technology: Web Design and in Online Teaching and Learning. She earned her BA from Fisk University and JD from Harvard. Currently, Logan is Executive Vice President & General Counsel of the Florida Education Fund (FEF), a non-profit that creates and implements educational programs for underrepresented groups. In addition, Logan directs FEF’s pre-college programs, which include after-school and summer coding camps for middle and high school students in Florida.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Chapter 1 - Hi, World!: Building Your First App
Chapter 2 - Practice Makes Perfect: Event-Driven Programming
Chapter 3 - Fruit Loot: Creating a Simple Animated Game
Chapter 4 - Multiplication Station: Making Decisions with Code
Chapter 5 - Beat the Bus: Tracking Location with Maps and Sensors
Chapter 6 - Tic Tac Toe: Using Loops to Create a Game
Chapter 7 - Multiplication Station 2: Reusing Code with Procedures
Chapter 8 - Virtual Shades: Drawing and Dragging Images
Appendix - App Inventor Components and Built-In Blocks

View the detailed Table of Contents
View the Index

Reviews

"The perfect DIY instruction manual and guide for creating apps, Learn To Program With App Inventor is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, highschool, college, and university library Computer Science & Technology collections."
—Midwest Book Review

Extra Stuff

For book updates, app files, “On Your Own” solutions, and lesson plans, please visit https://www.programwithappinventor.org/.

Updates

To test the Hi, World! app in Chapter 1, download the MIT AI2 Companion app directly from MIT App Inventor or by scanning the QR code found at the Help>Companion Information menu.