Build Your Own App for Fun and Profit

July 1, 2012

This slim volume tries to cover a lot of ground in 86 pages and doesn't quite succeed. While in some sections LaCounte (content editor, Minute Help Pr.; Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian) suggests small business owners as his book's core audience, overall, the goals of this work are unclear. In some places, it appears the book is aimed at an audience with a low level of technical expertise and limited experience using mobile devices, but other sections assume a fair amount of knowledge in software and web design--reading more like a "tips & tricks" piece for a professional developer learning a new skill. While LaCounte has experience in this area (Minute Help Press has many apps available for purchase), the uneven tone of this work makes it hard to follow. VERDICT Readers with limited technical experience wishing to develop their own apps will be better served by other works such as Craig Hockenberry's iPhone App Development: The Missing Manual or Barry Burd's Android Application Development All-in-One For Dummies.--Carla H. Lee, Univ. of Virginia Lib., Charlottesville

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