While delving into Flash development targeting the mobile web, i have been using my Nexus One on a daily basis. Though i still go back and forth with switching my SIM card from the iPhone to N1 and back again (can’t give up the iPhone), i decided to also get my hands dirty with the Android SDK and build an application written in Java.

MassRoute is now up on github and is an application that consumes the real-time transit data available from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

This is one of my go-to applications when discovering new languages as it covers a lot of basics, from UI to web services to data storage. I actually wrote a similar application in Objective-C last year but never thought it looked pretty enough to submit to the store. ah well. In any event, i threw MassRoute up on github for anybody who wanted to check out how some things are done using the Android SDK (such as consuming RESTful XML).

Now, i am far from a Java expert, so i should say that they may not be done correctly . But, i am guessing that most people that read this blog (besides my mom… which i guess only leaves 2 people) are actively working with the Flash Platform and are generally curious about other platforms as the future is widening.

As such, i wanted to have this application that is being actively worked on up in a public place so you can see how I have accomplished somethings and/or so you can compile the thing and push it to your device. I am no designer either, so it may not visually look pretty (in fact it doesn’t) from time to time as functionality is the focus. If you don’t mind staring at information presented in various shades of grey, you are free to push it to your device if you know how. However, if you do not take the bus in Boston, i don’t know how useful the actual application will be on your device… unless you want to use it to call and heckle me about how long i will be waiting for the bus.

Check out MassRoute on github

Posted in Android, MassRoute.