IBM's DeveloperWorks has published a tutorial on using the Eclipse-based developer tools for Google's Android mobile phone platform to work with XML. Frank Abelson's latest exploration of Linux-based Android platform shows how to use XML to build a mobile RSS reader.

Abelson's intermediate-level tutorial, “Build a mobile RSS reader,” asks the rhetorical question: “What good is a mobile computing environment if you can't keep track of your favorite news feeds on the go?” He goes on to note that while Android's WebKit.org browser engine is a vast improvement over WAP browsers of only a few years ago, it's still not optimized for handling RSS (really simple syndication) news feeds.

Because RSS is based on XML, the tutorial covers the major aspects of XML data handling before continuing with a discussion of how to build an Android RSS reader. Along the way he covers fetching and parsing XML data with SAX (simple API for XML), and how to render RSS data in Android.

The one-hour tutorial requires Eclipse, plus a Web browser with JavaScript enabled, as well as the Android Software Development Kit (SDK). Prior experience with Java programming is required. Experience building Android applications in Eclipse is recommended, but not required.

Availability

The DeveloperWorks tutorial is available for download now, with registration, here.

 
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