background

First of all, I am a vegetable chicken, and the salary is low.

When I just graduated, I worked in a state-owned enterprise to do APP development. When I worked for nearly two years, I changed my job to a pseudo-large factory to do safety. Cast many resume all have no echo, only this add pseudo big factory want me to come. At that time, I promised to touch some low-level things, but usually I only write Python scripts. In reverse, I wrote some things about risk control on Android, which felt a little low and the salary was not high. I didn’t dare to ask for more at the beginning, but the HR offered me more than WHAT I asked for. Just now, leader talked about next year’s plan. Now he wants to change jobs.

Now I am also embarrassed. I have forgotten a lot of things about APP development before. In fact, I want to be engaged in framework development, and I am quite familiar with AMS and PMS. Recently I started forking out an AOSP, buying a Pixel and practicing.

After all, the ideal is the ideal, Android low-end is not easy to mix, I have no experience to jump to the framework is also very difficult, jump back to app development is not willing to, the current state seems to be working for nearly three years without a special master of things. Our company is also one of the recent layoffs. A raise may be out of the question, but life goes on and job hopping is inevitable.

Analysis of the situation

Mobile development is saturated, and Android development is not as hot as it was a few years ago. Just like a programming language that has had its heyday, there must be a curve like the sinusoidal curve that rises rapidly, then reaches a peak, then falls again, and then reaches a plateau.

Currently, there is an oversupply of mid-level developers in the market, but there is still a shortage of technical talent above the senior level, especially for specific segments of Android developers. Many companies will be preferred to a specific requirement, such as popular now Kotlin, mixed development, cross-platform development, the NDK, advanced image processing and so on, is very popular on the market of live and small video demand for senior talents in the field of audio and video of this segment is larger, so the AI, AR, VR technology is also need through the terminal display to the user, So there’s still a future for mobile development.

The career development

As the development of Android tends to be stable, some people feel at a loss about the future of Android. As early as 2010, there were a large number of Android recruitment in the market, and people with a basic understanding of Java can engage in Android. At that time, it was the peak of mobile Internet entrepreneurship, and it was claimed that as long as you do an App, you can start a business. “When the wind comes, pigs can find jobs, and when the wind stops, pigs are the first to fall to death.” If you think it is difficult to find a job, it must be that you are muddling through, and Android has been very scarce in senior and above talent.

As long as you work deeply in a certain field of Android, do the best, and strive to become an expert in this direction, you have the energy to improve the thinking of engineering architecture, software engineering thinking is the same, the realm will be improved, even if you learn new things will be very fast.

If you excel in one field, even if that field is obsolete, the interviewer will still believe that you can excel in a new one. Never mix ten years of work experience with one year’s work ability, or your market price will be less than one year, and you will become a difficult job.

The direction of

Here are a few categories of Android’s future directions:

1. Application layer development, not limited to various products, mainly Android native development, mainly various performance optimization.

2. Embedded development, not limited to various development boards, Internet of Things, smart home, Internet of vehicles/vehicle

3, security development, not limited to a variety of reverse, disassembly, looking for security loopholes

4. Audio and video development, not limited to live broadcast, on-demand, audio and video call, audio and video conference, short video, etc

5. Plug-in, component and hot repair development, not limited to self-development and integration development using open source framework

6. System development (Android), not limited to Rom maintenance and FrameWork layer customization requirements

7, graphics and image development, not limited to OpenGL ES, EGL, GLSurfaceView, filter, beauty

8. Small programs/quick applications

Small program is based on wechat, which is a hundred million level of traffic entry products derived, and fast application, fast application is nine mobile phone manufacturers based on the hardware platform jointly launched a new application ecology. Users do not need to download the installation, that is, use the point, enjoy the performance experience of native applications, but personally feel that he has been cool, small program is quite optimistic, Tencent this mountain, wechat this pavilion, you do not want to cool are difficult, but see whether you just need, such as your company has demand, that you can go to study.

Recommended learning new technologies, Flutter and Kotlin, are both recommended by Google.

Flutter

Flutter is a new mobile UI framework that Google unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2018 on 27 February 2018 to help developers develop high quality native apps on both ios and Android platforms

As it is released by Google, the outlook is positive.

Kotlin

Kotlin is an official development language recommended by Google. It is interchangeable with Java, simple and safe, etc. It is a static type programming language running on Java VIRTUAL machine, known as the Swift of the Android world. It is designed and developed by JetBrains and open source.

Kotlin can be compiled to Java bytecode or JavaScript, making it easy to run on devices without a JVM.

How to choose

So in conclusion, really don’t alarmist, sink down and learn basic, enhance skills is more important than anything, if you can’t find a job, can only say that you are learning is not good enough, or ability is not up to standard, doesn’t mean don’t have the job recruitment, with individual ability not to deny the whole market demand is the behavior of the weak!

As to have a lot of people about what is to choose the direction, I can give to your advice is interested in you, don’t struggle too much, well which one can find a good job, first the feeling of following your heart to learn, to learn a foreign, and programming languages are exchanged, later you will have access to other areas, The most important thing right now is to be fully committed to the career you want right now. Eating well is more important than anything!

The above is the advice I can give, not necessarily right, but from my own point of view are very pertinent advice, as to how to go, how to choose, all by yourself!