Dublin Bus App

RoRo979

Right so, I need to ask some advice from fellow developers. I am an inexperienced app developer, learning the ropes but don't know the exact route to take to get to where I want to go.

What is the app: It will be able to gather real-time information from numerous bus stops, how long until each bus arrives at the respective stop and how long it takes that bus to reach your required destination. It will then tell you which bus to get and send an alert when it's 5-10 minutes from arriving at the stop you want.
The idea behind it is that one bus may be at one stop, 5 minutes till arrival but take me 40 minutes to get home. However, it would be quicker if I walked 5 minutes to another stop, waited 5 minutes and the bus took 20 minutes to get home. It is also nice to know when to leave to go to the bus, rather than reaching the bus stop on seeing your bus isn't for another 25 minutes.

How will it work: As stated I am inexperienced but here was my thinking. Use google maps to get current location, destination, walking distance times.

Then using an XML parser to get information from Dublin bus API. I started learning SAX parser but think I will switch to XMLPULL unless anyone knows any more suitable ones.

Looking forward to hearing your suggestation. Oh, nearly forgot. This will be an android app coded on Android studio. I will of course make the final product live for everyone to use, and wont be commercializing it.

CaoimheSquee

I would love an option in the Dublin Bus app that somehow let you know that the bus you are waiting for is full and won't be picking you up so you can go and get a coffee or a pint. And then let you know for the next one and the next one ..... oh the joys!!
Seriously though, I would pay good money for that. The amount of time I spend at bus stops watching them drive by me over and and over when I could be inside or getting a few messages instead!

Sorry for hijack!

Atomic Pineapple

Are you developing for Android, iOS, Windows Phone or all three?

It looks like the Dublin Bus API can send JSON back which is far easier to work with than XML in my opinion, if you're developing for Android you can use the GSON library to map the JSON to a Java Object, in iOS you can do it easily enough without a library but you can also use the Mantle library which works like GSON.

GSON - https://github.com/google/gson

Mantle - https://github.com/Mantle/Mantle

Graham

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

It looks like the Dublin Bus API can send JSON back which is far easier to work with than XML

This ++

RoRo979

CaoimheSquee wrote: »

I would love an option in the Dublin Bus app that somehow let you know that the bus you are waiting for is full and won't be picking you up so you can go and get a coffee or a pint. And then let you know for the next one and the next one ..... oh the joys!!
Seriously though, I would pay good money for that. The amount of time I spend at bus stops watching them drive by me over and and over when I could be inside or getting a few messages instead!

Sorry for hijack!

hahaha if only such a feature was possible

It looks like the Dublin Bus API can send JSON back which is far easier to work with than XML

Exactly the type of response I was hoping for. Pure android, I only have knowledge of Java. Ill definately look in to it so and mostl ikely use it. Thank you very much

Atomic Pineapple

I find using Volley to be particularly useful for the Rest type requests you'll need to implement too so its also worth looking into - http://developer.android.com/training/volley/index.html

RoRo979

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

I find using Volley to be particularly useful for the Rest type requests you'll need to implement too so its also worth looking into - http://developer.android.com/training/volley/index.html

Thanks again, seems I have a steep enough learning curve ahead of me so. One question, might sound very basic but as stated I am inexperienced in app dev atm. Would tools like those you have mentioned be used commonly in the app development industry or would it be fairly specific? I am wondering as if it is something that would be used often I would be more willing to learn and test all the features they have to offer.

Atomic Pineapple

Both GSON and Volley are pretty much standard libraries to use in Android these days. They aren't too difficult to learn either.

jester77

RoRo979 wrote: »

Thanks again, seems I have a steep enough learning curve ahead of me so. One question, might sound very basic but as stated I am inexperienced in app dev atm. Would tools like those you have mentioned be used commonly in the app development industry or would it be fairly specific? I am wondering as if it is something that would be used often I would be more willing to learn and test all the features they have to offer.

If I was doing this I would use moshi over gson/jackson and for the requests I would use retrofit over volley and wrap the responses in observables using rxjava. However if you are new to android, then that is already a massive learning curve and I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner.

Read about moshi/gson/jackson and get a feel for how they work and the advantages/disadvantages they have over each other. Do the same for retrofit and volley.

If I was in your shoes I would not rely to heavily on libraries when starting out. You should get to learn and understand the android framework and lifecycles before you start using libraries as it is important to know what is happening under the hood.

RoRo979

jester77 wrote: »

If I was doing this I would use moshi over gson/jackson and for the requests I would use retrofit over volley and wrap the responses in observables using rxjava. However if you are new to android, then that is already a massive learning curve and I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner.

Read about moshi/gson/jackson and get a feel for how they work and the advantages/disadvantages they have over each other. Do the same for retrofit and volley.

If I was in your shoes I would not rely to heavily on libraries when starting out. You should get to learn and understand the android framework and lifecycles before you start using libraries as it is important to know what is happening under the hood.

Thanks will definitely look into it. Steep learning curve doesn't bother me too much. I much prefer getting used to using the best rather than trying to change my habits from a different way of doing things. I do however understand that they all are used in different circumstances and hence all should be looked into, however, for the purpose of this app, and for educational purposed, I wish to use the tools which are most suited for this purpose. Thank you again

The_B_Man

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

Are you developing for Android, iOS, Windows Phone or all three?

It looks like the Dublin Bus API can send JSON back which is far easier to work with than XML in my opinion, if you're developing for Android you can use the GSON library to map the JSON to a Java Object, in iOS you can do it easily enough without a library but you can also use the Mantle library which works like GSON.

GSON - https://github.com/google/gson

Mantle - https://github.com/Mantle/Mantle

Sorry if I'm dragging this up, but do you have a link to the Dublin Bus API?

The only thing I can find is some members only info from Dublinked. I was looking at joining but there was stuff in there about faxing stuff over to them and I lost motivation. If there was a simple link to an endpoint someone could send me, that'd be much appreciated!!

Thanks.

smackyB

The_B_Man wrote: »

Sorry if I'm dragging this up, but do you have a link to the Dublin Bus API?

The only thing I can find is some members only info from Dublinked. I was looking at joining but there was stuff in there about faxing stuff over to them and I lost motivation. If there was a simple link to an endpoint someone could send me, that'd be much appreciated!!

Thanks.

http://rtpi.dublinbus.ie/DublinBusRTPIService.asmx

Enjoy dealing with the horrible SOAP XML

RoRo979

The_B_Man wrote: »

Sorry if I'm dragging this up, but do you have a link to the Dublin Bus API?

The only thing I can find is some members only info from Dublinked. I was looking at joining but there was stuff in there about faxing stuff over to them and I lost motivation. If there was a simple link to an endpoint someone could send me, that'd be much appreciated!!

Thanks.

if its not too nosey, what are you thinking of accomplishing with dublin bus? Basically same as mine or are you taking another approach?

The_B_Man

RoRo979 wrote: »

if its not too nosey, what are you thinking of accomplishing with dublin bus? Basically same as mine or are you taking another approach?

No nothing like yours. Just playing around with the API. Nothing new or revolutionary.