This mobile application allows the user to create a portfolio of current stock information. The user inputs a symbol, and the app fetches this stock’s current information from an online client. The information is then displayed on the screen and saved on the user’s device. This application automatically updates the information of the stocks contained in the portfolio in time increments the user specifies. It achieves this by using a background service, a broadcast receiver, and an internal SQLite database.
Android programming uses Java for the logic, and XML for the visual display of the application. Beyond showcasing those two fundamental programming and markup languages, this educational project’s purpose was to show my experience creating and using the following Android elements:
Linear, Relative, and Table layouts using XML.
Creating multiple Views and Event Listeners.
Creating multiple Activities and Intents.
Manipulating the application with java code when the user interacts with it.
The use of displaying Toasts in various ways.
Managing Shared Preferences, and allowing a user to change these settings.
Using a ListView with a custom Adapter to allow the organization and deletion of stocks within it.
Using a Content Provider to access the online client whenever the stocks need to be retrieved or updated.
A Service to regularly check for updated stock info using the content provider.
A Broadcast Receiver to intercept the Service’s signals and update our ListView of stocks.
Creating and maintaining an SQLite database to store the various stocks.
The download is a zip of the source code for my project. If you have an environment which has the Android SDK, you can import this project and run it on an Android emulator. If you don’t, you can still download the zip and view the source code. I also think it might install automatically onto Android devices, but I haven’t had the opportunity to test this out yet.