App Inventor Beta

I bult a Tic-Tac-Toe game for Android phones tonight using App Inventor. I didn't have to write a single line of code but I was still able to use logic such as whether to show an X or an O based on whose turn it is. I also included a reset button that clears out all the X's and O's when clicked.



As I mentioned, I didn't write a single line of code. To build the layout, you just drag and drop components on the visual editor. Then when you want to handle events (such as a button click) you drag and drop events onto the "Block Editor". The Block Editor is also used for creating variables, if statements, etc.

There are three main parts of App Inventor:

  1. App Inventor Extras: A program you can install on your computer to allow for viewing the app faster on your phone. (This isn't required if you are willing to download the app and install it over and over again to see what it looks like.)
  2. The Visual Editor: A website you load in your browser.
  3. The Block Editor: A java program that you launch from the Visual Editor.
If you want to develop Android programs, but don't know or don't want to deal with Java programming or setting up the Android software development kit, then I highly recommend looking into App Inventor.



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