Google offering new tools for aspiring Android developers

Google has long offered Android developers a number of resources for creating quality applications and games.

Indeed, whether it's the oft-updated platform version chart or a member of the team dropping by the developer blog to share some code or best practices, there's plenty of official information available.

If that wasn't enough, today brings another valuable set of tools for new and seasoned Android developers with a beta program called Android Training. Presented in a wiki-like format, this collection of classes is designed to help developers create compelling apps.

Initially, there are only a dozen courses offered with topics ranging from optimizing battery life to finding the right monetization strategy. Each of the classes address many commonly asked questions, include code snippets, and even have "prerequisites." Over time more classes should come.

I'm always pleased when I see Google making such "official" efforts since they demonstrate a genuine interest in the entire ecosystem. As flexible and feature-rich as Android is, there's nothing like a bad app or two to ruin the mobile experience. And as the number of applications continues shooting into the hundreds of thousands, there's no time like the present to put the focus back on quality.