Programming for the phone and the tablet

[Stephen Tret]

Hi, we have been asked to look into tablet programming using Android. We saw some classes online that were teaching android for mobile platforms. Is programming for the mobile platform same as programming for android tablets? we just want to make sure before we sign up for any classes. Thanks.

[Peter Johnson]

First, find out if the training includes Android 3; if so then it most likely includes tablet-specific lessons. But it never hurts to ask the company offering the training before signing up.

[Stephen Tret]

Thanks for your response. The company mentioned that the same mobile classes are applicable to tablet programming as well. I will check with them to see if 3.0 is included.

I was also asked if the same Java code that I write could be deployed to a Android tablet as well as a tablet running on windows. I tried googling, but can't come to a conclusive answer. Is it possible to write code that could be deployed to both windows and android tablets using only Java? Thanks again

[Ulf Dittmer]

It's not out of the realm of the possible that there could be a cross-compiler that creates both Android and Windows Mobile/Phone executables out of the same Java code, but I'm not aware of any such tool, and consider it highly unlikely that one will ever exist. The APIs are too different to create good quality cross-platform apps that way.

[Stephen Tret]

ok, thank you. The reason we were considering windows was because we couldn't find a rugged android tablet suitable for outdoor industrial use. There was a google hit on a motorola, but the customer service person denied any knowledge of such an android tablet. So I've posted a question on an android tablet forum. Hopefully we will find one.