The Top 5 Android App Development Basics for Newbies | SEO Expate Bangladesh Ltd

The appealing features that come with apps are what pique consumers’ curiosity. Apps make phones “smart,” and thanks to their advantages, they have fundamentally changed how we live today. Expert programmers are working hard, designing and constructing their own programs, and adding useful features to them. The top 5 Android app development concepts that you should understand before you start developing an Android application are covered in this article:

1. Master the language
2. Familiarity with the right application development tools and environment
3. Knowledge of the application components
4. Awareness over fragmentations, android application, threads, loaders, and tasks
5. Choosing the right tools.

Basics of Android App Development

1. Master the Language

The two primary programming languages utilized in Android app development are Java and XML. For this reason, learning and mastering these programming languages essential requirements for creating Android applications. The following are a few Java programming language fundamentals:

• Packages
• Objects & classes
• Inheritance & interfaces
• Strings & numbers, generics,
• Collections
• Concurrency

Proper understanding of Java and XML will help you build/develop a more robust and elegant android app.

2. Familiarity with the Right Application Development Tools and Environment

Before you begin developing your app, it is crucial that you become comfortable with the build automation tools and the integrated development environment if you are new to Android app development. You may study the fundamentals and many other things that will help you better your code by using the Android app studio IDE or Eclipse as your tools. You should become familiar with Apache Maven, Apache Ant, and Gradle since they offer a robust set of tools to assist in managing your builds.

You should also become familiar with the terms and technologies used in source control. Create a git-source repository once you have learned git (by creating an account on Bitbucket or GitHub). You can utilize the Git Pocket Guide to get a handle on the fundamental ideas and vocabulary of how the platform works.

3. Knowledge of the Application Components

The fundamental building blocks of developing Android apps are application components. Every part is a different entry point for the system into your app. Even while each Android App Development of them is independent and fulfills a particular function, some of them are dependent on one another, and not all of them serve as genuine entrance points.

The five basic sorts of app components each have a unique function and life cycle that specify how they are produced and deleted. They consist of:

• Activities: This is a component that represents a single screen with a user interface (for instance, an email app may have one activity showing a list of new emails, another activity composing emails, and another one reading emails). Activities work together to form a cohesive user experience in the app. However, each one of them is independent.
• Services: This is a component that runs in the background to perform work for remote processes or long-running operations. It does not provide a user interface (for instance it might play music in the background while the user is in a different app).
• Content providers: This is the component that manages a shared set of app data. Through this component, the data that you store either in the file system, on the web, an SQLite database can be queried or even modified (as long as the content provider allows it). This component is also useful for writing and reading data that is not shared and is private to your app.
• Broadcast receivers: This is the component that responds to system-wide broadcast announcements. Most of the broadcast receivers originate from the system, and although they do not display a user interface, they can create a status bar notification that alerts the user when a broadcast event occurs. Generally, it is a gateway to the other components and it only does minimal work.
• Activating components: A synchronous message referred to as intent activates 3 of the 4 components (i.e. services, activities, and broadcast receivers). Intents also bind individual components to one another at runtime whether the component belongs to your app or not.

4. Awareness over Fragmentations, Android Application, Threads, Loaders, and Tasks

With numerous distinct devices and operating system versions, the Android market is fragmented. Keep in mind that your gadget will need additional testing, maintenance, and maintenance costs if it supports more devices and/or versions. The opposite is also true. Additionally, you need the proper layouts, assets, and fonts to provide the greatest experiences across the range of screen characteristics. You should also take into account the variety of supporting sensors or UI features for Android. An application class, one or more activities, and one or more fragments are common features of all Android apps.

You may occasionally have services running continually for background tasks, but occasionally you may not. Always make sure that the thread is never blocked if you want to create a fantastic and seamless user interface. As a result, all lengthy operations (including computations, I/O, network, etc.) should be carried out in the background asynchronously (mainly on a different thread of execution). For this reason, it’s crucial to understand the Java language’s concurrency features.

5. Making the Right Choice over Needed Tools

You only need a Mac or Windows computer, a Linux distribution of your choice, Eclipse, the ADT Plugin, and the Android SDK, all of which are free. To discover how to set up your development environment, read the installation guide on Google; it offers documentation for every step required. When developing an Android app, you need take into account some specific Android requirements. Some of them consist of:

• Performance and responsiveness: You should always respond to user input within five seconds otherwise the operating system will ANR you. (ANR-application not responding — the only option that you will have is to force close your app.)
• Lags of more than 100ms will be noticed by the users: As mentioned above, the UI thread should never be blocked because it is only one.
• Limited resources: Wake-locks (the mechanism that forces the device to do a certain thing despite the recommendation to put the device to sleep by the battery manager) should be used sparingly. Do not unnecessarily poll hardware (e.g. GPS or accelerometer) because it will quickly run down the battery.

Check out our video that takes you through the introduction to Android Application Development to get a taste of what the course entails.

Conclusion:

Today, 77% of Americans own a smartphone, and the majority of their time is spent using applications. In reality, 197 billion apps were downloaded in 2017, making an occupation as an Android App Developer one that is solid and full of prospects for advancement. There is a lot to learn about Android App development, so think about starting with Simplilearn’s Google-approved Certified Android App Developer training course. As you design six popular applications throughout the course, you’ll gain practical experience and learn how to understand the fundamentals of Android along with the other skills you’ll need. The program is designed to prepare students for Google’s Associate Android Developer (AAD) Exam. Happy building apps!