Development of applications for android

Application development for various mobile platforms (Android, iOs) is what many experienced and novice software developers focus on. After all, it is applications that make phones “smart” smartphones. Thanks to their advantages, applications have radically changed the capabilities and functions of yesterday’s “dialers”. By choosing Android development as a target platform, we have a choice between Java and Kotlin, the main programming languages ​​for this platform. Let’s try to formulate basic tips for developing applications for android.

Master the language

Today Java and XML are the two main languages ​​used in developing Android applications. Therefore, knowledge and proficiency in these programming and markup languages ​​is a prerequisite for developing an Android application. Asking yourself the question “where to start programming for android?”, You will get a fairly simple answer – learn the main development language and the basics of OOP.

Basic knowledge of the Java programming language should include:

• Understanding and using Packages in Java;

• General understanding of OOP, the concept of objects and classes;

• Understanding of inheritance mechanisms, understanding and ability to work with interfaces;

• Working with strings and numeric values, working with generics;

• Understanding of the functioning of collections and working with them;

• Parallelism.

A correct understanding of Java and XML will help you create / develop a more robust and elegant Android application.

Good skills in working with the development environment and other correct development tools

It is very important that before you start fully developing your application, you are familiar with the build automation tools, as well as with a tool such as the IDE – an integrated development environment. It is generally recommended to use Android App Studio IDE or Eclipse as your development environment. Applying them will help you learn the basics of development and help you improve the quality of your code. We also recommend that you explore mechanisms like Apache Maven, Apache Ant, and Gradle as they provide a powerful set of tools to help you manage your builds.

During the development process, it is important that you are proficient in the use of version control tools and concepts. Check out git and then create a git-source repository (by creating an account with Bitbucket or GitHub). To get an idea of ​​the basic concepts and conditions of the platform, you can use the Git Pocket Guide.

Choosing the right development tools

What do you need to create an Android application? To start programming for Android, you will need very simple tools – a personal computer with Mac or OS Windows, Linux. The development tools themselves (IDE Eclipse, ADT plugin and Android SDK) are distributed free of charge.

Android has some unique parameters that you should consider when writing Android apps. Among them:

Performance and responsiveness: You should always respond to user input within five seconds, otherwise the application will throw an ANR (ANR: application not responding) error. The only option available is to force close the app.

Users will notice lags over 100ms: as mentioned above, the UI thread should never block, because there is only one.

Limited resources: Wake-Lock (a mechanism that causes a device to perform certain actions despite the recommendation of a battery manager to put the device to sleep) should be used with caution. Do not rely on equipment items (such as GPS or accelerometer), because doing this will quickly drain the battery.

Application development for various mobile platforms (Android, iOs) is what many experienced and novice software developers focus on. After all, it is applications that make phones “smart” smartphones. Thanks to their advantages, applications have radically changed the capabilities and functions of yesterday’s “dialers”. By choosing Android development as a target platform, we have a choice…