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Tips to Build an Android App for Beginners

By James Tredwell on October 9, 2019

Honestly, if you own a mobile device, you are dependent on apps, like it or not.

Smartphones cannot run without them. Without them, the “smart” part of phones won’t be there and they will remain ordinary phones. Apps are awesome software that helps us run out smartphones today.

There are apps to perform almost any function but have you ever wondered how they are built? You have? Oh, you want to build your app? Sure! This article will help you with that.

You are not alone there are thousands of adept programmers who are busy, designing their apps and embedding them with their features.

However, before you know how to make an android app, here are several fundamentals for programming android apps.

  • Master the Language

The two most popular programming languages used in building android apps are Java and XML. If you want to build an Android app then the first step is to master them. Some of the fundamentals of java programming language are:

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

You will get knowledge of building robust and elegant Android apps with a clear understanding of Java and XML.

  • Familiarize Yourself with Development Tools

Another important aspect of building Android apps is familiarizing yourself with automation tools used for building mobile apps before getting into action. You should also get acquainted with the integrated development environment.

Some commonly used tools in Android app development are studio IDE and Eclipse. These tools will help you with the basics of app development and how to improve your code.

You will know how to use Apache Maven, Apache Ant and Gradle which are great tools for managing builds. Other tools that are important in your app development process are control tools and concepts.

Familiarize yourself with the git by creating a gut-source repository. The Git Pocket Guide provides the right information on how the platform works.

  • Knowledge of the Application Components

The essential building blocks of Android app development are called application components. Each component provides a different access point where the system enters the app.

Each of the components exists as its entity and performs particular tasks, although some depend on one another and not all of them are actual entry points.

In total, there are five kinds of app components. Each component has a distinctive life circle and purpose that defines how they are created and destroyed. The five components include:

  • Activities – This represents a single screen with a user interface. For example, an email app may have activity for composing emails, another activity for sending created emails and another one for reading received emails. Activities work together to promote cohesion on user experience in an app. However, work independently.
  • Services – This particular component works in the background performing remote processes. It doesn’t have a user interface. A good example is an app that plays music in the background, while you are doing other staff with a different app on your phone.
  • Content providers – A set of shared data are managed using this component. Data that is stored in the file system, the SQLite database, or the web can be queried or modified, using this component. That is if the content provider allows it.
  • Broadcast receivers – A component that responds to system-wide broadcast announcements is called a broadcast receiver. Although they don’t show user interface, they originate from the system. Their purpose is to create status bar notifications to alert users of broadcast events. They do little work since gateways to other components.
  • Activating components – This is a synchronous message known as intent. It activates 3 of the 4 components. It also binds components to each during runtime whether it belongs to your app or not.
  • Awareness of Fragmentations and Android 

Many devices and operating system versions run on Android making it a fragmented market. This means that it requires a lot of maintenance testing leading to high cost. Proper fonts, assets, and layouts are also required to provide the best experience in various screen sizes.

Other considerations that you should have in mind are the android supported sensors or UI facilities. All android apps have one or more activities and one or more fragments and an application class. Sometimes you may have or not have services for background tasks running continuously.

The thread should never get blocked to provide a smooth user interface. You should, therefore, run long operations asynchronously in the background to keep it flowing. That is why mastering the java language concurrency facilities is necessary.

  • Making the Right Choice over Needed Tools

You only tools needed to develop Android apps are Mac or Windows, any type of Linux, and Eclipse, the ADT Plugin, and the Android SDK. All these tools are free. To properly set your development environment, you can go through the installation guide on Google.

You will get documentation of any requirements. When writing an Android app, there are certain parameters that you should consider, including limited resources. The Wake-locks which is a mechanism that forces devices to do certain things despite putting the devices to sleep should never be used unless it’s necessary. Don’t poll hardware because it will run down your battery.

Conclusion

Apps are what make mobile devices popular. Today it’s very hard to use a smartphone without apps. It’s impossible. Android has apps for everything including finance, health, entertainment, religion, communication, and many more.

With mobile devices on the rise, demand mobile app developers are getting high; therefore, you need to familiarize yourself with app writing languages to easily create your Android apps. The beauty of android development is in its simplicity.

Ensure that you have used the right set of tools to develop apps or seek services from professional Android app developers to get exemplary app development solutions. If you want to learn how to build android apps, you can start with Simplilearn’s Google-authorized Certified Android App Developer training course.

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