January 2014 Summaries

In January 2014, Seth Ladd, a Developer Advocate for Dart, announced the Dart Flight School initiative, a global series of events aimed at teaching Dart programming throughout February. Organized by Google Developer Groups and various developer organizations worldwide, these events include tech talks and code labs to educate participants on both client-side and server-side Dart programming, as well as compiling applications for mobile and modern web platforms. Attendees will also learn to use contemporary web frameworks like Polymer and Angular with Dart. The initiative has been creatively embraced by groups such as the Seattle GDG, which is hosting its event at the Museum of Flight, and the GDG Netherlands, which plans to hold its keynote inside an old Boeing 747.

The Google Code-in 2013 contest concluded with the announcement of 20 grand prize winners chosen from 337 teenage participants across 46 countries who completed over 2,113 tasks for various open source organizations. The winners were selected based on their outstanding contributions, which included writing code, fixing bugs, and creating documentation, among other tasks. These students, representing countries like the United States, India, Australia, and Uruguay, worked with organizations such as Sahana Software Foundation, KDE, and Wikimedia. Highlights from the students' experiences included creating a screencast for Drupal, enhancing Wikipedia's mobile feature, and updating the MediaWiki UploadWizard extension. As a reward, the winners will visit Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, for a four-night trip in April, where they will meet Google engineers, participate in an awards ceremony, and engage with fellow tech enthusiasts. This year, a unique addition to the prize includes the opportunity for students to meet their mentors from the contest, fostering deeper connections within the open source community.

In collaboration with Code School, a significant update to the Discover DevTools course has been launched, offering an interactive learning experience on utilizing Chrome DevTools to enhance web app development and debugging. Originally released to help developers leverage DevTools' powerful resources, the course now includes updated videos reflecting the latest UI and features, along with newly added Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles to broaden accessibility. This free course covers essential topics such as the DOM, styles, JavaScript debugging, and performance improvement techniques, aiming to empower more developers to streamline their development processes using Chrome DevTools.

The developer preview of the Google Drive Android API, released as part of Google Play Services 4.1, offers a seamless and efficient way for Android apps to integrate with Google Drive, enhancing user experience by providing cloud storage capabilities without compromising app performance. The API facilitates offline data storage with automatic syncing when connectivity returns, aligns with Android's design paradigms, and minimizes the impact on app size due to its integration with Google Play Services. It includes user-friendly interface components like file pickers and creators, allowing developers to enable native Android experiences effortlessly. The API also provides specialized access to Google Drive functionalities, such as file metadata and sharing features, and is compatible with devices running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and above. This integration aims to simplify app development while leveraging the combined capabilities of Android and Google Drive to create innovative applications.

In an effort to assist newcomers to Google Cloud Platform, Google Developer Expert Lynn Langit has released a series of six screencasts aimed at guiding Java developers and architects through the initial steps of becoming productive with the platform. These screencasts, which include slides and Java code samples, are designed to provide a practical introduction to using Google Cloud Platform. The series is part of a broader initiative by Google Developer Experts (GDEs), who are accomplished individuals with expertise in Google technologies, to mentor and share their real-world experiences with developer communities globally. Community Manager Alex Maier encourages those interested in becoming a GDE to engage with the official Google Cloud Platform Community, highlighting the collaborative and supportive nature of the developer ecosystem.

Udacity has launched a new MOOC titled "Mobile Web Development" (CS256) aimed at helping web developers transition to building mobile web applications. The course, consisting of 12 lessons, offers short instructional videos, quizzes, and interactive code challenges to teach the latest mobile web development techniques. Participants will learn how to create adaptable web experiences for different screen sizes, manage touch interactions, and optimize for performance under various network conditions using Chrome DevTools, with a focus on mobile networking. An introductory Google Developers Live session with Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun is scheduled to discuss the course's content, with additional support through a study group led by course instructors. The course is designed to equip developers with the skills needed to craft effective and responsive mobile web experiences.