Android is an open-source operating system specially designed for the development of powerful applications for mobiles. Android is a leading OS for mobiles with a huge user base of 3.3 billion users. In everyday life, we interact with a ton of applications that are built on the Android OS. From basic applications like calculators, and calendars to complex social media apps like WhatsApp, & Facebook. These applications have become an integral part of our everyday life.
The Android OS has huge community support across the developer community as well as it is backed up by the tech giant Google. If you are a complete beginner or experienced app developer and want to become a professional android application developer, the android development course will help you to develop your skills through hands-on practice. This will take your application development skills to the next level and also help you build a career in the field.
Table of contents
- What is Android development?
- Roadmap for Learning Android Development
- Programming
- Java
- KOTLIN
- XML
- Android Studio
- User interface & User experience
- Backend and hosting
- Learn & Repeat
- Conclusion
What is Android development?
Android development is a category of development of applications for mobile phones which use Android OS. Android allows its users to build applications from small scale to apps that offer complex functionalities.
To start your journey in application development and to build applications on your own, these are the steps to be followed. We will break this entire roadmap into 6 major parts.
- Programming language – Java/ Kotlin
- Android Studio
- User interface & user experience
- Backend and host our application
- Learn & Repeat
Roadmap for Learning Android Development
Programming
To build robust and scalable applications, it is essential to learn basic programming fundamentals. It’s essential to get comfortable with one programming language based on your personal choice. The languages which are most popular in native Android application development are Java and Kotlin. You can select any one language from them.
- Java – Java is a general-purpose object-oriented programming language. It also supports application development and is widely used in software development. It is essential to become comfortable with the basic concepts of java, and also with object-oriented programming concepts. You can refer to the official documentation of Java provided by the Oracle corporation to learn about these concepts.
- KOTLIN – Kotlin is a modern programming language released in 2011 and it has wide community support. It is backed by Google and it has become the official language for android application development. Kotlin is known for its easy-to-learn syntax, conciseness, and interoperability alongside the java programming language, which means that we can use Kotlin code along with Java.
- XML – XML is a structural language abbreviated as an extensible markup language. It is similar to HTML in web development and is used to structure the user layout and add elements to the user interface.
Android Studio
Once you are comfortable with the programming fundamentals, it is time to start building the applications in Android Studio, which is owned by Google. Android Studio is considered the official IDE platform to develop android applications and provides several features for android devs.
Android Studio supports a wide range of programming languages such as Kotlin, Java, and C++. It has official documentation that has excellent beginner-friendly resources to get started with Android studio.
User Interface & User Experience
The user interface and user experience are the next key tools that have to be mastered by every android developer. The android studio IDE itself provides many tools to design smooth user interfaces. You can also use other libraries like Android jetpack compose which uses the Kotlin programming language and offers a smooth functioning from the user interface to the end users.
Backend and Hosting
Once the development of our application is completed, it’s time to add the backend for the application and connect it with a database on the server side. The backend of the application is developed using any programming language like Java and Python.
For hosting the backend of the application, several tools are available for the developers like Google’s firebase, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, & GCP. These Hosting platforms will provide the required hosting, authentication, and storage services for the server-side databases. So, it is essential to master one of the tools for the backend & hosting.
Learn & Repeat
The field of android development is constantly evolving and offers more and more features to the users as well as the developers. Hence, a constant learning mindset is required to master the skill of android development.
Conclusion
Android application development is a great choice for promising career growth with competitive salary packages. It is always suggested to go through the official documentation of android, which is a great way to start learning android application development.
