Building Android Apps In 2023? Here Are 5 Things You Need To Know
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Greetings! If you're here to discover the secrets of crafting robust, scalable, and cutting-edge Android apps, you've landed in the perfect spot.
Consider this: Android OS, the backbone of more than 70% of the world's devices, caters to an incredibly diverse audience. It welcomes users of all ages, backgrounds, and financial circumstances, from the affluent to those with more modest means.
Now, our mission is to ensure that each one of these individuals enjoys a seamless and consistent experience, whether they wield a $1,000 flagship device or an $80 budget-friendly phone.
In the ever-changing world of technology, there is increased demand for innovation on our devices. The good news is, there is a wealth of technologies that we can use to achieve these goals
PRE-REQUISITES
Basic Understanding of Android Development
Familiarity with Kotlin
An open mind
Here are the five things you need to know about building Android apps in 2023:
1 - KOTLIN
Kotlin is a modern and concise language developed by JetBrains, designed to be interoperable with Java -- by targeting the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), with improved features such as null-safety, type inference, clear syntax amongst others. It was announced at Google IO in 2016 as the primary language for Android.
Kotlin made its entrance into the Android world at a time when developers were looking to make a change from the verbosity of Java. Since its release, it has gathered a huge community of developers and enthusiasts. You can run your first Kotlin program here or download the official IDE.
Recently, the Kotlin team at JetBrains, through intense hard work, created something now called -- Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP). KMP is used to develop software Servers, Web, Linux, Windows and iOS. You can get to know more here
2 - JETPACK COMPOSE
Jetpack Compose represents a giant leap in the realm of Android application development. Crafted meticulously by Google's Android team, it stands as a comprehensive suite of libraries that ushers in a new era of app creation.
The magic of Jetpack Compose lies in its declarative approach. Instead of the traditional method of assembling UI components using complex views, it empowers developers to describe the entire user interface precisely as they envision it, employing annotated composable functions. This revolutionary shift simplifies the UI creation process, enhancing code readability and maintainability.
In the pre-Compose era, UI construction often involved intricate arrangements of views, a process that could be prone to complexity and inefficiency. Jetpack Compose, on the other hand, leverages the full might of Kotlin's expressive capabilities, enabling developers to conjure visually stunning and user-friendly interfaces with remarkable ease.
In essence, Jetpack Compose is not just a framework; it's a transformative leap forward in Android development that places the power of elegant UI creation directly into the hands of developers, making the process both delightful and efficient. To delve deeper into the world of Jetpack Compose, you can explore sample projects from Google here
3 - MATERIAL DESIGN
We've all encountered captivating designs in our mobile apps. Chances are, many of these were brought to life through the principles of Material Design.
Material Design is a set of design guidelines, introduced by Google in 2014 to improve user experiences and aesthetic appeal on various platforms, mainly on mobile and the web. Its principles are:
Material is the Metaphor:
Elements should have depth, respond to touch, and cast shadows to create a sense of familiarity for users. This makes elements mimic properties of real-world materials.
Bold, Intentional Design:
Vibrant colors, contrasting elements and clear typography should be implemented to achieve bold and intentional design. These choices guide users' attention and interactions.
Motion Provides Meaning
Subtle animations, transitions and feedback are used for interactions, screen transitions and user feedback. This means that motion is used to convey meaning and help users understand the interface.
Material Design use various components to implement User and User Interface. They are:
- Typography - fonts and styles
- Color - colors to reflect brand purpose
- Layout - adaptability and responsiveness
- Buttons - navigability
- Icons - visual cues
- Elevation and Shadows - hierarchy and depth
4 - DEPENDENCY INJECTION WITH HILT
Dependency injection (DI) is a critical concept in software engineering, which android development extends from. It's a design pattern that emphasizes creating, modular, maintainable, and testable code.
Hilt is an android DI library that offers annotated-based dependency injection. This approach helps prevent boilerplate code and maintain a clean, organized project structure.
Now, let's further explore Dependency Injection with Hilt:
Hilt: A Closer Look
Hilt, developed by Google, simplifies the process of dependency injection in Android projects. It builds upon the foundation of Dagger, another popular DI framework, and provides a more streamlined and intuitive approach. Here are key aspects to consider:
Annotations for Simplified Injection
Hilt leverages annotations to simplify the injection process. With just a few annotations, you can mark classes for dependency injection, specify how dependencies should be provided, and let Hilt take care of the rest.
Elimination of Dagger Boilerplate Code
One of the significant advantages of Hilt is its ability to eliminate much of the boilerplate code associated with Dagger. This allows developers to focus on writing business logic rather than configuring complex DI setups.
Scoped Dependencies
Hilt provides a built-in scoping mechanism, making it easy to manage the lifecycle of dependencies. For instance, you can annotate a component with @Singleton to ensure that a dependency has a single instance throughout the application.
Integration with Android Components
Hilt seamlessly integrates with Android components such as Activities, Fragments, and View Models. This means you can easily inject dependencies into these components, promoting a modular and testable architecture.
Testing Made Easier
With Hilt, unit testing becomes more straightforward. You can replace real dependencies with mock objects, allowing you to isolate and test individual components in your Android app.
As Android app complexity continues to grow, adopting DI with Hilt becomes increasingly valuable for building robust and adaptable applications.
JUnit is a fundamental testing framework in Android app development, enabling developers to write unit tests that verify the correctness of individual components. Here, we'll explore the significance of JUnit testing and its role in ensuring the reliability and quality of your Android code.
JUnit for Unit Testing:
JUnit is widely used for writing unit tests in Android projects. These tests target specific methods or classes in isolation, allowing you to validate the behavior of critical components. By writing unit tests with JUnit, you can identify and rectify issues early in the development cycle.
Test-Driven Development (TDD):
JUnit supports Test-Driven Development, an approach where you write tests before writing the actual code. TDD encourages developers to think deeply about requirements and expected outcomes, leading to more robust and well-designed code.
Integration with Android Studio:
Android Studio, the official IDE for Android development, seamlessly integrates with JUnit. You can create, run, and debug JUnit tests directly within your development environment, streamlining the testing process.
Testing Complex Scenarios:
JUnit allows you to simulate complex scenarios and edge cases to ensure your code handles them gracefully. By defining various test cases and expected outcomes, you can verify that your Android app behaves correctly under different conditions.
Mocking Dependencies:
In Android development, JUnit often works hand in hand with mocking frameworks like Mockito. With Mockito, we can create mock objects to simulate dependencies, making it easier to isolate and test specific components without relying on real implementations.
Continuous Integration (CI):
JUnit tests are a crucial part of continuous integration (CI) pipelines. CI systems like Jenkins or Travis CI can automatically run your JUnit tests whenever changes are pushed to the code repository. This ensures that new code doesn't introduce regressions and maintains code quality.
Code Coverage Analysis:
JUnit testing can be complemented with code coverage analysis tools like JaCoCo. These tools help you measure how much of your code is covered by tests, ensuring that you have comprehensive test suites and highlighting areas that may require additional testing.
CONCLUSION
In this article, we explored the essential building blocks of modern Android app development. We began by delving into Kotlin, a versatile and concise programming language that has become the primary choice for Android development.
Then, we journied into the world of Jetpack Compose, a groundbreaking framework that simplifies UI development using a declarative approach. Finally, we delved into the world of unit testing, a critical practice for ensuring the reliability and quality of Android apps.
Whether you're a seasoned developer or just embarking on your Android journey, this article equips you with the knowledge and strategies to effectively implement and craft robust and visually appealing Android apps in 2023.