Getting Started

This site is all about App Inventor for Android, the visual "blocks" language for building mobile apps. The site was developed by Professor David Wolber of the University of San Francisco, who has taught App Inventor courses since 2009. For more information, contact Wolber at wolber@usfca.edu.


Why AppInventor?

App Inventor is a visual language with a drag-and-drop interface. Here are some of the reasons that even non-technical people can program with it:

  • No syntax -- The blocks language eliminates the need to remember and type code.
  • Everything is right in front of you -- The components and functions are organized into drawers. Just find, drag, and drop.
  • Events at top level -- "When this happens, the app does this" is the correct conceptual model. Down with Listeners!
  • High-level components -- The app inventor team has built a great library with simplicity the main goal.
  • Only some blocks plug-in -- You can't do things that don't make sense.
  • Concreteness -- You program components, not abstractions.

Need to setup App Inventor? Click here!

App Inventor setup? Click here to build your first app