Essential Android App Development Tools

App Development: We live in the age of mobile apps. There are a wide variety of app development tools available to developers. Android and iOS are the two most prominent and popular operating systems. They both have their own tools to develop apps on the respective platform. So if you plan on creating a mobile app for your business, creative idea or service. You need to be aware of the tools required to develop that mobile app. In this blog, we'll talk about the essential Android tools you need.

How are Android apps developed?

Any software development that takes place needs an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to easily build apps using app development tools. Android is no exception. We have the Android Studio, a full-fledged, advanced IDE for Android app development. Wondering what's in the Android Studio IDE? Read more.

Here are some command line tools used for Android app development.

1. Android SDK tools

Android Software Development Kit (SDK) is nothing but a toolset that helps developers and programmers create apps for the Android OS platform. In the SDK you can find libraries, a debugger and an emulator. All these tools help you develop apps.

2. Platform Tools

New versions of the popular and highest-rated Android operating system are released regularly, so the platform tools that have been developed support the new features of Android and are always compatible with the older versions.

3. Android emulator

Using Android Emulator, developers can test the apps without using the real devices.

Now you have an idea of what is in the Android Studio. So let's move on to know what else is needed or required when developing apps.

1. Android libraries

Because Android OS is open source. It has great community support, we can easily find the little pieces of code that we can use and reuse. This can be done by adding and entering the libraries into our application. Most libraries can be easily found on the GitHub platform. Here are some of the libraries with brief description.

a. Retrofit

This library is used to get the data from the server through web services and use it in the app. Suppose we develop an app to show the latest movies. We can create a web service that will display the list of movie names from our server. The format can be JSON. So by using the Retrofit library we can get the JSON and parse it to show in the app.

b. To slide

Glide is the library to display the images from the server or local storage. The images are displayed in a way that maintains the aspect ratio and can handle image loading, caching, etc. It is recommended by Google.

c. MaterialDesignLibrary

This library will help you create a great and excellent lightweight user interface for the app. It provides you with the variety of custom UI components that are extra intuitive in the app's user interface.

2. Grab

Gradle is a build system that helps developers build, test and deploy the app. This system generates the APK file required to install the app. This is done using the Java and XML files. There are two types of Gradle scripts (build.gradle):

a. Top level build.gradle

b. Build.gradle at the module level

3. Databases

The Android operating system has a local database known as SQLite which is used to store the data locally in the phone. There are also some third-party database libraries in the market that can be used in the app. For example Realm, Room, OrmLite, greenDAO.

4. Firebase

What is Firebase? Maybe you need a mobile app, but you don't want to deal with issues like authentication, server management, file storage, databases, crash management tool, notifications, analytics, etc.

Firebase is the only solution for all of the above problems. Here are some important features of Firebase:

a. Realtime database

Most databases such as SQLite will provide you with the data when you request it, but the Real-Time Database, such as Firebase, will provide you with the data when it is updated.

b. File storage

Almost all apps saved the files such as profile picture. Firebase provides an easy way to store images on the cloud servers

c. Authentication

Firebase is equipped with a variety of authentication systems that can be used in the app. For example email / password verification, social login, phone verification, etc.

d. Crashlytics

Firebase crashlytics helps you fix the issues that occur in the live app by version.

e. Analytics

Firebase also provides its users with the analytics feature that allows developers to analyze app usage with various custom events.

f. Notification

Almost every app built for Android has the function of push notifications. Firebase SDK provides an easy way to integrate the push notification.

There are many other great features of the Firebase SDK and the best part is that it can support the iOS platform too.

5. Code architecture

Every great idea always started with a small concept. That's why it's important to lay the foundation in a way that takes the least effort to maintain and grow with features. One of the bigger mistakes a developer makes is not using the planned code architecture.

The following are some of the issues that arise due to poor or no code architecture.

a. Huge amounts of code in one class or file.

b. Code is difficult or impossible for another developer.

c. It's even more difficult to debug.

So what do you get with good code architecture? Let's check.

a. Understandable code.

b. Inexpensive maintenance.

c. Simplicity.

There are some developer-friendly code architectures for Android.

a. MVC (Model View Controller)

b. MVP (Model View Presenter)

c. MVVM (Model View ViewModel)

Each code architecture mentioned above has its own beauty. But don't forget to think twice, code once.

Conclusion

Now you should have the basic idea of which five essential app development tools are needed for Android app development. While this is not an exhaustive list, it is a start for any budding developer or Android development team.

laseros

Monday, October 19, 2020