= Game App Development Team =
This team annually develops a professional, scouting app for this year's game.

'''Team Mentor'''

'''Student Members'''

== Resources
* [http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html Oracle JDK Platform]
* [http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html Android Studio]

== Tips & Tricks

General:

* Use Android Studio!  It is by far the easiest way to create Android Apps!

* Go through the android developer tutorial!  It goes over everything you need from creating a GUI to saving data.

GUIs:

* Do ''not'' use Android Studio's drag and drop widget feature to create a GUI because it hardcodes values instead of using ratios
  which is bad practice! (This would make the app appear differently on different devices based on the screen size.)

* Use XML to create static layouts (layouts that will stay the same) and Java to create dynamic layouts (layouts that will or may change).

Saving Data:

* Save to the external storage and not internal (Android names part of internal storage as external storage so that a device without
  physical external storage will always be able to store data in "external storage".  Beware of this!)

* When you create a new file, you have to tell the Android operating system that there is a new file.  If you do not do this, it will
  appear as if the program is running smoothly until you try to access the files on a computer; the files do not show up on device viewer!
  I was able to tell Android that there was a new file created using this code:

{{{#!java
ApplicationContextProvider.getContext().sendBroadcast(
new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE, 
Uri.fromFile(writeFile)));
}}}

  where writeFile was the file I just saved.  (The full code can be seen through this Wiki [http://wiki.raidtech.net/browser/gameapp/app/src/main/java/net/raidtech/first/gameapp here].
       
* Use a library like GSON which makes serialization and deserialization a breeze!

* Although GSON will make a JSON file, you still need to represent the code in a human readable format!  For this, I use CSV which I create
  without the help of a library.  I saved individual matches in CSV files and I created a file called SUPER_FILE which combines the CSV files
  into one large spreadsheet.  This spreadsheet shows every team and all the teams' statistics so someone can quickly retrieve general information.

Distribution:

* Instead of distributing via cable, upload the apk--which can be found in the Android Studio Project files--to google drive so scouts can
  download and install it on their phones.  This is faster and less error-prone.