Android App Development Fundamentals to Consider for Beginners

Are you thinking of becoming an Android developer? Before you get started you must know everything about android, make sure you make an informed decision, and able to complete what you initially started. However, learning this skill will need professional assistance from the android training institute.

Here are some of the most important fundamentals to consider for Android beginners.

Mastering the Language

The two main programming languages used for android are Java and XML. Knowledge and mastery over these languages are extremely important. Some of the fundamentals of the Java language include:

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

Knowing XML and Java will enable beginners to develop great apps for the users.

Knowing Development Tools & Environment

If you are on the path to becoming an android developer, knowing your tools and development environment is pre-eminent. Get acquainted with automation tools and IDE. It is suggested to use Android app studio IDE or Eclipse which will help you learn the basics and improve your code as well. You can also learn Gradle, Apache Ant, Apache Maven as they provide developers with a powerful set of tools that helps in managing the build.

It is important to get to know source control tools and concepts to develop better and faster. For becoming an expert Android developer, it is necessary to learn Git and then create a Git-source repository.

Know the App Components

App components are the building blocks of Android development. Every component is at a different point through which the system can enter the app. However, every component has its own identity and plays a significant role. There are several components that depend on one another and not all are actual entry points. In general, there are five different app components each serving a different purpose with a different life cycle which shows how it is created and how it is destroyed.

Here are five components included in the Android training.

Services

This component works in the background to carry out work for remote processors and long-running operations. This component does not provide the user interface. Say, for example, the user might play music while using a different app and the music won’t stop.

Activities

This component denotes a single screen with a user interface. All the activities work jointly to create a cohesive user experience in the app. Every activity is still independent of one another.

Content Providers

This component manages a shared set of app data. This component helps in storing the data either in the file system or on the web. An SQLite database can also be queried or even modified if the content provider allows it. This component is highly useful for reading and writing data that is not shared and is also private for the app.

Activating Components

There is a synchronous message known as intent that activates 3 to 4 components like services, activities, and broadcast receivers. Intent also combines individual components to each other at runtime whether the component belongs with the app or not.

Right Choice of Tools

Some of the most basic and important tools needed for Android beginners include a windows PC of Linux & Eclipse, ADT Plugin, and Android SDK which are all free. However, Android has some parameters to follow by beginners. All these tools are included in the Android training program. Here are some factors you must consider while choosing your development tools:

Responsive

The app must always respond to the user input within a time span of five seconds. If not the operating system will show ANR (App not responding). This will make users force quit the app. Make sure to pick the tools that are responsive.

Limited Resources

Wake-locks is the system that commands the device to perform certain functions even though the device is supposed to sleep by the battery manager. As an Android developer, make sure to use this feature carefully. Don’t try to poll the hardware when it is not necessary because it will drain the battery quickly.

Knowledge of Fragments, Threads, and Tasks

Android has vast market fragmentation and as an Android developer, you must be able to develop apps that support devices of all sizes and types. Your Android training program will teach you how to make compatible apps. However, if your app supports more devices, it will, in turn, require high maintenance, testing, and such related cost.

If you are developing your own app, this is something you must keep in mind. Make sure to use appropriate fonts, layouts, and assets that will help in assuring the best possible experiences in different screen characteristics. You must consider plenty of android supported sensors or UI factors. All the Android apps have class, one or more fragments, and activities.

At times you might have services for the background task which should run constantly but other items should not. Make sure that the thread is not blocked to provide a smooth and great user interface. This is the reason why long operations must run in the background asynchronously. It is most probably on an entirely different thread of execution. Hence, it makes very important for Android beginners to learn Java language concurrency.

Wrapping Up

If you have made up your mind, start your live project training with Developers Academy and get started already. Take care of the above-mentioned points to not just be a good developer but be a great one.

Originally published at https://www.developersacademy.org on April 14, 2021.