Develop Reference

Building a Client-Server Application and need help starting out

I am looking to make a messenging application for both Windows and Android over Wi-Fi. I have looked around for answers and have come back with a loads of articles that mention Client-Server applications, which is what I want to be using, but they do not mention clearly how everything works or where to start. Could anyone point me in the right direction?
Extra Information:
If possible c# for the server-side as Im more skilled in c# than other languages although I don't mind learning a new one.
Articles I've Read:
http://csharp.net-informations.com/communications/csharp-socket-programming.htm
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/33396-basic-clientserver-chat-application-in-c%23/

Android App with HTML/CSS/jQuery. [How] Can it be done?

I know this has been asked before (did not find a straight forward answer) but can I (Or how can I) create and Android App using CSS/HTML/Jquery ?
I will not need to hook into native functions, such as the accelerometer, camera, or even the Toast Messages...I only need to create an app to show a list of names and some details when name is selected, therefore I don't know if it's worth learning to make my life more complicated for something like this.
PS: I need the app to work offline, otherwise I would have just made it with jQuery Mobile and uploaded it on a server.
UPDATE AFTER GETTING DOWNVOTED
Ok, so I get downvotes for this question, probably because it's been asked before, or maybe not, since he/she didn't take the time to write a reason...
Anyway, my point is: I did googled it and searched, but at this moment there are a lot of ads of websites and web apps that will help you do this BUT are they reliable, safe..do they really do the trick or it comes with bugs? That is why I asked the question, to see who used what and what was their experience with it. So yeah, you can downvote me for not trusting every ad and not taking the time to try out everything out there!

Well you can use https://software.intel.com/en-us/html5/tools to develop cross-platform apps. I used it to develop too. It is quite good but it only has one major issue: you can't use php. It also enables you to do on-device testing.

Starting point for app creating, where to start

I am looking to start writing apps for mobile devices. I know a little about this subjec, and I am proficient in both java and python. However, before jumping into creating apps I wanted to get the community's input on a question I have not yet found the answer to:
How/Where should I begin?
I understand this question is fairly general/basic for a community that focuses on solving/debugging complex programs, but if there is a recommended tutorial (or specific platform) that will help a beginner(such as myself), it would greatly reduce the frustration and amount of monotonous questions asked on this forum and others.
Regards

Coursera is offering 3 courses all using android development which started last week. That would be an excellent starting point for anyone:
https://www.coursera.org/specialization/mobilecloudcomputing/2

How/Where should I begin?
I don't know about you, but I often learn by example more than reading. You mentioned that you're proficient in java so thats a great start. After you understand the Android SDK it's really only the UI good practices you need to learn. So here's my suggestion.
Start off with something super simple. Let's say, create your own version of a calculator. Something that can add, subtract, multiply, and divide. This should be dirty, ugly, but works correctly.
After doing this, take a look at some other android calculators on the play store. Check out Simple Loan Calculator. I use this example because it offers a lot of android UI components. ViewPager, ActionBar, etc. Download this app, take a look at it, and try to mimic it. This should provide an idea on how to work with the android UI components.
What's next? After you have done these two apps you should be relatively ready to tackle your own project.

HTML apps are easy to port across multiple mobile platforms. I have set up an Android HTML template as a starting point. You can just import this project into Eclipse and take a look at that.
https://github.com/jakewp11/HTML5_Android_Template

Here is my experience for ios,
There are three things that I consider as pillars
Objective C
Memory managment
Design patterns
The first one looks obvious but I'd stress on learning concepts like protocols, categories, extensions. As a beginner I thought that learning the syntax was enough, but time and again I had to jump back to the language concepts to understand what's going.
The memory managment , the most talked and confusing subject and now since we have automatic referenc counting to make things simpler and often new Dev skips learning memory concepts (I did it). So I suggest you to have an idea what actually happens under the hood of arc " the manual memory managment"
The design patters,
When I started off , to pass data and control , what I used to do was achieve every thing through the only design patten I knew (target action) . I lack the knowledge of design patters didn't how easily I could achive better results with less code.
Some resources:
Dev.apple.com
http://www.raywenderlich.com (one of my best tutorials are here, you can find one on design patterns)
http://rypress.com/tutorials/objective-c/
And yes , the sample projects at Dev.apple are the best tutors.

Where to find Android Development Homework Problems

Ok so I am starting off with android development and I have found a bunch of useful tutorials so I am set there. What I am looking for is a resource that provides homework style problems to do and has the answers downloadable so I can check my solution against the "official" solution.
So for example instead of the notepad tutorial it would be: "Build an application that you can create, edit, delete notes, ...etc.". Ideally the "official" solution would have some explanation as to why they built it the way they did. (so a tutorial at the tail end)
Anyone know of any resources that provide their tutorials in this format?
Thanks.

Okay, here's one: build me an app that allows the user to make, modify, and store notes. The 'official' answer is the Notepad app in the 9th level of the api. (Note that this is different from the notepad tutorial).
The point is that asking questions is easy, the harder part is actually making a program that does the job. And #Roflecoptr is right, at this level it can be implemented very differently. But if you want that mindset, you can write your own 'homework' easily. Just think up a few things you want that are simple, build it, does it do what you want well? Then you pass.

Despite for very trivial problems I dont think this is possible, because there are way to much possible implementation possibilites so that you can't compare your solution to the "official" solution.
But why do you need something like that? If you want to learn to program on Android, you can just follow some tutorials you've already found and then modify them, adapt them to your needs. When you get more used to the development of Android apps you can just get some ideas on tutorials/android development sites and then implement your own solution. There is plenty of help available here on SO and on other development sites, which will help you if you really get stuck.

You could always go to the Android Samples page, and without looking at their implementations, do your own and compare. The samples page is here:
http://developer.android.com/resources/samples/index.html

Should I learn Google App Inventor as a supplement to Java for Android

Just curious. I am already a Java android guy but am interested in the new app inventor beta for android.
I was wondering what "real" developers are thinking. A lot of people want to develop an android app but don't really have programming skills. Seems like a lot of apps could be written with app inventor - not sure since I haven't tried it yet.

Hopefully this clears up some things for people that are still just hearing about App Inventor. (Keep in mind App Inventor is extremely beta right now, so all of this is subject to change.)
If you're interested in playing around with some of the features it offers and haven't had the time or interest to get involved with the full Android SDK, then App Inventor is probably a good fit for you.
The interface of App inventor offers some unique features you won't find in the Android SDK and is pretty easy to get the hang of (make sure to look at the shortcuts for the Blocks editor, or it might start to feel tedious real fast). It has live debugging and live edits to both the interface and the supporting logic. That alone cuts down on time and frustration if you aren't quite sure about the proper way to do something yet and is probably my favorite feature of the whole system. New developers will especially find it rewarding to actually see their changes implemented on their phone without waiting for things to compile and run. It is a huge time saver and much easier to get used to than the traditional compile and wait process you face if you are trying to learn things through the SDK.
It is also quite handy if you have been playing around with the Android SDK and simply want to try something new out that App Inventor supports that you haven't had the time or aren't quite sure how to approach yet. So long as you keep things focused on features that App Inventor supports, this can provide valuable insight into understanding a problem by getting your phone doing something you can see and use in a matter of minutes. That's something even seasoned developers are likely to appreciate.
The real problem is more when you start hitting walls. Walls that you simply can't climb. And you quickly realize that the limits of this tool must be understood or you will probably spend a lot of time trying to do something that just isn't currently possible. Sooner or later your going find yourself in this position if you use App Inventor very much.
All coding is graphical.
Look at some of the demos or screen shots of what's available through the Blocks editor if you don't understand what that means. Setting values in those big colorful blocks is as close to code as you will get with App Inventor, for better or worse.
If you have any previous development experience, you are going to find yourself longing for the ability to do some simple coding to supplement what you are doing. Or at least the ability to export your project and pick up where you left off in Java. Sorry, this isn't that kind of tool.
Your only options when you get to this point are to pick up and start all over in code or forget about it, at least until the desired feature gets added to App Inventor (which may be never). That right there likely to irk a good number of people and turn them off to it.
If you are looking at getting into Android development, I see no problem with starting out with App Inventor. It might even save you hours of effort that might otherwise be spent trying to wrap your head around some concepts that are simple to understand when you do them, but a bit confusing if you are building them for the first time.
If you are a seasoned developer, or looking to make money or gain Android experience beyond just the concepts, this isn't your end destination by a long shot. If you are a student that is new to programming, this is probably a good environment with sufficient challenges and room to play around in to keep your interest for a decent amount of projects.
Despite it's current limits, I still see App Inventor as valuable resource to learning new concepts and as a playground for trying out new ideas. It is proving to be an awesome tool for introducing someone to Android development, and would probably do as good a job as you could ask for when introducing someone to programming in general.

I have been playing with it for a bit and my thoughts are that is is great for:
An introduction to programming. It is not something people can pick up and develop great programs with straight away, it does still require a lot of thought and logical thinking, but it doesn't require people to learn the correct code syntax
Prototyping. As it is relatively quick and easy to develop with (and has live debugging on the Android device), it allows you to prototype and see/interact with it in real time
Quick coding. If you want to develop a program quickly, this might be the simplest tool
As the tool develops, it will allow more feature-rich applications (it already allows integration with other back-end programs, etc.). The screen design right now is very basic, but will be improved soon.
Overall, I think that if you know Java for Android, then you will be able to pick up Google App Inventor within an hour and start making some functional apps. You might find it more suitable for building some apps, or you might prefer to stick with your current tools.
For people looking to start programming, I think it is an excellent introduction. They can concentrate on logic and program design, instead of setting up their IDE, code structure and syntax. Plus they will see results as they code.
To answer your question 'Should I learn it'. I would suggest that you play with it for an evening - that is all it will take you to get a good feel of it.

It probably won't make you a better developer, but all knowledge is good, so it can't hurt :)
I plan to play around with it anyway.

The generic answer to any "Should I learn ..." question is usually "Yes, it can't hurt to know things." From a practical standpoint, I would skip it. These sorts of things are usually nice ideas that never catch on. Sure this might be a neat way for non-programmers to build very simple applications and perhaps a real programmer could build a compelling application with it but it looks like if you are a programmer the benefits to using App Inventor don't seem that compelling.

I haven't checked it out, but I think it might be worth a look to help in UI development. Most software engineers are good at really solving problems with software or coming up with cool ideas for apps, but when it comes to UI design we find a lot of obstacles. At least myself, I've always been used to working with UI Designers.
I honestly don't like tools that generate code, (except WSDL to java or java to WSDL) but pretty much anything else I find myself spending more time trying to trouble shoot an issue when it comes up than the time I would've spent writing the app from scratch...

Appinventor is so easy to learn, I would suggest go for both options.
Concentrate most of your time on your main Dev environment and learn AppInventor, in the background, to give yourself a break.
The advantage of Appinventor is you can put together reasonably complex apps
in a relatively short period of time.
It's also pretty forgiving, for example, if you have a numeric variable, you can treat it either as a string, or a numeric value, meaning you can put together
prototypes pretty easily and quickly.
If you want an app putting together, quickly, Appinventor might be the better
option, if you need something more powerful, more control over you UI etc, then
a more sophisticated Dev environment might be called for.
With Appinventor being so easy to use and learn, you're giving yourself more options.

Considering Eclipse seems to introduce errors I can't find and can't remove--even after using Project-Clean, I'm looking forward to any alternative.