It’s easy to be an Android developer, but it’s not easy to be a successful and outstanding developer. It takes a lot of hard work, passion, dedication and perseverance to achieve it.
I can prove to you that there are no shortcuts or easy ways to become a truly successful developer. But if you are willing to put your mind to it and work hard, you will surely achieve what you deserve.
In your quest to become a great Android developer, here are some tips from personal experience that can help you.
So, if you’re planning on getting into Android development or are already an Android developer, you’ve found the perfect place.
So, without wasting any more time, let’s get started.
1. Be familiar with Android framework internals
I’m not asking you to familiarize yourself with the documentation, but to actually use the Android framework code. I see a lot of developers who are afraid to dive deep into what’s inside the Android framework, how it works, and how the different pieces fit together correctly.
If you need to update your Android “game,” stop being afraid to get into the inner workings of the Android SDK and start paying attention.
2. Try to overcome the fear of omission (FoMo)
The Android system is big, very big. For a month or two, it’s not completely mastered. The more you learn, the more new things will come to you. As a beginner, it’s normal to be afraid of missing something.
But try to get over it. Know what you really need to learn so you can start using it in the applications you’re building, and then slowly expand your horizons.
3. Start reading more code
Most developers don’t have time to read what other developers are writing. They spend most of their time writing about what they already know.
But it doesn’t improve your development skills, it doesn’t increase your knowledge. You should start getting exposed to other open source applications and libraries and start learning. 30 minutes of code reading a day is a good place to start. You’ll be amazed at how many new things you didn’t know.
Tip: Here are some great open source apps to get you started.
Consider learning more languages
I’m not asking you to learn Spanish or Chinese, but to learn a new programming language. You need to keep up with changes in the industry, not just android.
This will broaden your horizons and greatly improve your Android development skills. Resolve to learn at least one new programming language every year. But don’t just look at it for a week and throw it away. Try to understand the deep meaning of the language and how it is implemented internally.
Hint: Check out this excellent article to help you make good decisions. (SPOILER — Javascript is the answer)
5. It’s time to learn the Java design pattern
I won’t stress its importance in your long Android development career. Design patterns can really help you achieve elegant solutions when you are solving extremely important programming problems.
You also need to keep up with other developers so that when they talk about engineering mode or decorator mode or facade mode, you immediately know what they mean.
Make a promise to learn a new design pattern every week.
Tip: Here’s a great resource to get you started. If book is your choice, please read this one.
6. Start contributing open source
If you’ve developed some useful code to use in your own applications, consider open-source it. There’s a lot to learn along the way that will help you become a developer.
If you don’t have anything to open source, consider picking up other code projects of interest and fixing some bugs. Perfect your documentation or write some unit tests.
Even a little help from you can go a long way toward keeping the project running.
Tip: Here’s a great guide to getting started contributing to open source.
7. Spend some time making your IDE work for you
Start spending some time understanding the IDE you’re using – Android Studio. It’s more capable than you think. There are a lot of cool features and shortcuts hidden inside. But most developers don’t know or will never try to find out.
Make a habit of exploring new and better ways to make your tools work for you, thereby improving your workflow and productivity.
Tip: Here’s a great article to help you master Android Studio like an expert.
8. It’s time to properly structure your application
Most of the time, we end up bundling all our code into Activities and Fragments so arbitrarily that they become giant, god-like objects that are almost impossible to maintain and test.
It is important that your application has a good architecture, like MVP, MVVM, Redux, etc. Consider separating your application’s business logic, view interactions, and data interactions into different layers to make them easier to manage and test.
Tip: These useful blue books from Google can make building Android apps easier.
9. Master the Simple Android coding guide
Never lose sight of simplicity. Working with developers whose code is messy can be a pain.
There are no shortcuts to learning the basics of Java and Android coding, and it won’t take you hours. Because it’s not something that happens once, it’s something that happens during development.
Tip: this is an excellent resource to start learning standard coding guidelines.
10. Take the time to learn Android best practices
In order to give yourself an edge over other developers and build applications that offer great features and features, you need to start learning some Android development best practices.
These practices and experiences can help you become a better developer and make your app stand out.
Tip: Here is a summary of some best practices for building applications.
11. Use your free time effectively by listening to podcasts
Try to use your time correctly and efficiently. When you’re commuting, working out at the gym, driving, cooking, your genius brain isn’t doing much.
So take advantage of that free time by listening to some valuable Android podcasts. Always try to fill your mind with useful things and always try to make the most of your time.
Tip: Fragmented Podcasts and Android Developers Backstage are two great Podcasts audio sources.
12. Don’t overthink it. Be realistic.
I see this not only in myself, but also in other people I work with. It’s good (and very good) to think about things before you start work, but overthinking and analyzing things will do nothing but create unnecessary confusion, delay, and anxiety.
Do what’s good for the project right now and adapt to changes as needed.
Read on: Two hard years of Android development have taught you this
13. Try to understand design
As a developer, the focus is understandably on learning to write better code. However, if you want to be a well-rounded developer, you should still spend time every day learning and understanding UI and UX design.
This will completely change the way you’ve written applications before. Try to communicate and interact with UI and UX designers on your team to better understand application design.
Tip: If you’re interested in learning how design works, read this amazing book.
14. Start being a perfectionist
This is a subjective topic, and my idea of “perfect” may not be the same as someone else’s. However, it is a truth to polish your product to the best possible extent.
Never give up. Don’t do something just for a reason. Be passionate about what you’re doing and then do it better than others. This will help you grow along the way and eventually become a successful developer.
Perseverance is the key to success
If you want to be a successful Android developer (or any other role in your life), you need perseverance.
Doing something for a few days or weeks and then throwing it away doesn’t get you anywhere. Try to clearly position yourself that you want to be an Android developer in the next few years, and keep sprinting and challenging.
It’s easy to start something, but it takes effort to stay passionate for a long time.
16. Start small and expand
As a developer, always try to break down a complex problem or feature you are working on into simple, independent components that can be quickly understood and solved.
Don’t be overwhelmed by the initial size or complexity of your project. As long as you’re on the right track, everything can work out. Step by step, slowly expand.
17. Always have a practice project at hand
Hands-on programs can completely change the way learning is done. If you come across something new with Android, make it a habit to try it out right away.
If you find an interesting Android library, don’t just get to know its documentation and API, but try it out in your hands-on project right away. This will give you a deeper understanding of the library.
18. Start writing more tests
I can’t stress how important this is. You won’t know for sure until you’ve thoroughly tested it. Testing will help you build confidence in your code.
Don’t ignore testing, or treat it as “optional,” which will only make later development more painful. Remember, code without tests will quickly become legacy code.
read
50+ extreme resources to master Android development
19. Consider TDD
When developing applications, consider building them in a powerful and efficient way that will stand the test of time.
Start following TDD’s red-green-refactoring cycle. The failed test case is written first (red), the actual code is written to make the test pass (green), and the code is further cleaned and optimized (refactoring).
20. Set up an appropriate auto-release mechanism
As a developer, try to automate things like app quality checks and distribution.
You can use tools like CheckStyle, PMD, Lint, FindBugs, and others to automate the quality checking mechanism. It is imperative that all unit tests be run before any major changes are incorporated.
When all the checks pass, you can get a green signal to publish the APK to the Play Store, or otherwise distribute it (like the Crashlytics Beta).
Tip: Consider using such tools to automate the Play Store release process.
Embrace responsive programming
If you want to improve your Android development skills, be sure to consider a responsive programming approach. This forces you to think about building applications in a completely different way.
Responsive programming helps you write interactive applications faster and makes development life easier and more fun.
Tip: There is a series to learn the basics of RxJava for Android development.
22. Learn to use Kotlin for Android development
Kotlin is currently one of the most popular languages in Android development and is officially supported for Android application development. This easy-to-use language is a breath of fresh air in the Android world.
This is a great thing for developers who are tired of long, error-prone Java. Give it a try and you might rediscover your original passion for development.
Tip: Learn more about why you should start learning Kotlin to get better at Android development.
23. Attend developer gatherings and networking events
Developers tend to be introverted, like to sit in front of the computer in their own corner, living in their own world.
But try to get out of your comfort zone and interact more with other developers. There’s a lot you can learn when you go to these social gatherings and talk to other developers with similar interests.
Hint: This is a good place to find the parties you’re most interested in.
24. Be familiar with keyboard shortcuts
Try not to use a mouse. Almost all actions to be performed in Android Studio have keyboard shortcuts.
This will greatly reduce your development time and improve your workflow. Memorizing keyboard shortcuts may take some time at first, but in the long run will help you achieve a truly mouseless workflow.
Tip: If you don’t want to memorize keyboard shortcuts the original way, there’s a great AS plugin that can help.
25. Try to learn at least one new Android-related thing every week
There’s a lot to learn and understand in the vast world of Android. When you first step into the world, you can be overwhelmed. But if you make a plan to learn one new thing every week, you’ll find things easier.
Make a list of all the things you don’t know, prioritize them, and start tweaking them one by one each week. After a few months, you’ll find yourself much better than when you started.