Easy way learning android

Top tips to make learning Android development easier

Learning to program is not easy, and you shouldn’t let anyone else tell you otherwise! Sure, titles like “Learn to Program in 5 Minutes” might sound appealing (I’m sure I’ve been guilty of this at some point), but it’s just not that straightforward.

It’s much easier to build an app by following step-by-step instructions. You can follow one of my 7 minute videos for instance to make a basic game or quiz (so don’t be put off!). That’s very different from grasping all the ins and outs of the language in question, but it’s a great way to get started.

If you want to learn to program in a more complete sense, then you’re going to need to wrap your head around some complex and abstract concepts: object oriented programming, methods, classes, variables, flow control. The list goes on. Unfortunately, learning to develop for Android is actually one of the trickier places to start. Building Android apps requires not only an understanding of Java (in itself a tough language), but also project structure, how the Android SDK works, XML, and more.

This no doubt has led many people to give up before they’ve really given it a proper shot, and that’s a huge shame. Once you’ve actually built an app, Android is one of the best platforms for distributing your creations to a huge audience.

With that in mind, here are some top tips to help you get started without leaving a head-shaped dent in your wall. Walls are expensive.

Get a good book and use it right

This is obvious, but the most straightforward way to learn to make Android apps is just to get a good book and give it a read. Don’t worry if some of it goes over your head. Don’t worry about getting bogged down in the later chapters once you’ve lost the thread. Instead, read through the first few chapters to get familiar with the basic syntax and concepts. Start thinking how you might use some of this in a simple project, and that will get you ready for the next step.

Start with an easy project

I learned to program by reading a book on a family holiday to Greece and making lots of notes in a pad of paper while my parents chatted on the balcony. That was BASIC and BASIC is relatively easy.

Trying to learn Android development this way will only lead to headaches and countless pens’ worth of ink. So instead of trying to “learn Android,” try to build a simple first app. This will contextualize everything you’re learning and help you to see not only how it all works, but why it’s useful. It will also keep you motivated and help structure your learning.

You will never learn everything there is to know about Android development. It’s changing all the time. You can learn how to make X app or Y app, and the skills you pick up along the way will make the next project even easier. This is pretty much what you’ll do every time you approach a new project, forever.

It’s also actually the strategy that author Josh Kaufman recommends in his book for learning anything quickly, The First 20 Hours. It’s a good read.

Note: “Easy” is the operative word here! Friends who tell me they want to make an app almost always have crazy ambitions that advanced coders would struggle with. Build up to your dream app but start with a calculator, a quiz, a math game, or a something else small.

Ask a friend

If you’re fortunate enough to have a friend who knows how to code, then ask them to show you the ropes. They’ll help you get set up with the right software and be able to answer any questions you have. An afternoon with someone who understands Android development and is generous with their time is worth countless hours of reading and Googling.

Use Google and don’t reinvent the wheel

Google is your friend when it comes to building projects and learning concepts. Not only that, but it’s also a great place for finding libraries and even snippets of code written by others in the Android development community.

You need to make sure to keep doing this. When you’re new, you can easily spend hours thinking of how to solve a problem when actually, it could have been solved simply with an existing statement or library! Save yourself the headache by simply Googling what you want to do. Just make sure you have permission to any code and to include credit and attribution where appropriate.

You can also Google error messages while trying to figure out why your apps won’t work!

Tip: One of the challenges for learning coding in general and Android in particular, is it changes all the time. That means you’ll find plenty of out-dated resources, which will only confuse you. To fix that in Google, click ‘Tools”and then Any Time > Past Year. This should help ensure all the information you find up-to-date.

Reverse engineer

Borrowing code or copying out simple programs is a good opportunity to learn. Try reading through some code and understanding how it works. Tweak lines to see how it alters the functionality and appropriate any elements you think could be used elsewhere.

This is reverse engineering: taking something apart to see how it works. It’s a great way to learn anything.

Get into good habits

Learning to program is one thing. Learning to do it well is another. Adopting good habits early on will make your code clearer and easier to understand, so pay attention to things like indentation and naming conventions. Try to look for the most elegant ways to accomplish your goals and keep things nicely arranged in methods and classes. This becomes more important as your code becomes more complex, it’s also very important when you’re just starting out.

Make sure to spend time reading the basics to lay the foundations for your future learning. If you understand how to use the debugger before you get too far into your coding journey, it will help you figure out what is going wrong when your code won’t run.

Watch videos

This is partly a matter of personal preference, but I think following a video tutorial is significantly easier than learning the same thing in a book. This way, you can literally follow along with precisely what the instructor is doing.

Certain concepts are easier to learn from books and websites, but putting those things into practice is easier when following along with a video. Hmm, I wonder where you can find a ton of great tutorial videos all about Android development…

Better yet would be to find a structured online course that included videos. Stay tuned.

Maybe don’t start with Android

I say “maybe” because this won’t be the case for everyone. If you’re really eager to get an app up and running, you might not want to spend time with a completely different programming language. Likewise some people may find starting with a different programming language actually just confuses them, as it’ll add more syntax to remember. It all depends on your style of learning.

For me personally, Android was an struggle. I got by because I already knew BASIC (one of the most readable and beginner-friendly languages) but it was only really after I’d gotten familiar with Python and C# that I really started to “get” Java and Android. BASIC is great for learning concepts like variables and conditional statements. Python is an easy introduction to object oriented programming. C# has syntax similar to Java. From there it’s just a matter of changing a few statements and methodologies to make the transition.

This won’t be right for everyone. At the very least, I would highly recommend you start out by learning Java without the added complication of Android. BlueJ is a great little tool for writing and testing short Java scripts (we call this an IDE). It will help you grasp the basics before you start worrying about XML, Android versions, permissions, and resources.

Try another IDE/language for Android development

Still stuck? You could try taking a different approach entirely. Android Studio + Java is the official way to create Android apps, but there are plenty of other options out there too. One is to use the now-officially-supported Kotlin. If you’re making a game, you could also go with Unity. You could even try the lesser-known Basic4Android. All these options will make it a little easier to get started, but of course there are advantages to knowing the official “main” approach to Android development.

Read more:

Conclusion

Everyone approaches learning in different ways. But a good way to start out for many people will be:

• Buy a good book on Android development and do a little reading to grasp the basics.
• Start with a simple project that motivates you.
• Ask a friend to help, if that is an option
• Google what you can’t do and need to know.
• Follow videos and tutorials online.

• If you struggle, try your hand at a simple language like BASIC or Python, or play around with Java in BlueJ.
• Try a different programming language/IDE like Kotlin or Unity.

Let me know what strategies helped you get started in the comments down below and good luck. It might seem tough, but trust me, it’s worth it!

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Easy way learning android

Awesome Android Learning Resources

👓 A curated list of awesome android learning resources for android app developers.

Awesome Android Learning Resources aims to be the starting point for Android App Developers to find the finest learning content for Android App Development.

The content is Android Kotlin App development focused. Android Java content which can be of benefit to developers is listed and are under Java section.

Content in languages other than English is tagged according to ISO 639-2 codes.

Confused where to begin? Start with Official Android Courses.

Jetpack Compose Learning Resources

• Jetpack Compose Learning Resources — A continuously updated list of learning Jetpack Compose for Android apps.

• Associate Android Developer — The exam is designed to test the skills of an entry-level Android developer. To study the certification, google offers its study guide, where you can read all topics and also practice your knowledge with the codelabs indicated for each competency. Despite being paid, you can study all topics and practice on all codelabs for free in the mentioned study guide.

Real-World Android by Tutorials — Build professional, secure Android apps for the real world using the most important architectures and libraries.

Programming Android with Kotlin — This book helps Android developers make the transition from Java to Kotlin and shows them how Kotlin provides a true advantage for gaining control over asynchronous computations.

How to Build Android Apps with Kotlin — This book starts with the fundamentals of app development. Moving ahead, you’ll get to grips with testing, learn how to keep your architecture clean, understand how to persist data, and gain basic knowledge of the dependency injection pattern. Finally, you’ll see how to publish your apps on the Google Play store.

Instant Android Fragmentation Management How-to — Instant Android Fragmentation Management How-to is a step-by-step guide to writing applications that can run on all devices starting from Android 1.6.

Instant Android Systems Development How-to — Instant Android Systems Development How-to provides a gentle introduction to the platform internals without sacrificing depth.

Android Things Quick Start Guide — This book takes you through the basics of IoT and smart devices. It will help you to interact with common IoT device components and learn the underlying protocols. For a simple setup, we will be using Rainbow HAT so that we don’t need to do any wiring.

Android High Performance Programming — Build fast and efficient Android apps that run as reliably as clockwork in a multi-device world.

Android Internals: A Confectioner’s Cookbook — Deals exclusively with the internals of the Android operating system.

Android Apprentice — Android Apprentice is the book for complete beginners to Android development.

Reactive Programming with Kotlin — The book that teaches you to use RxJava, RxAndroid and RxKotlin to create complex reactive applications on Android and exercise full control over the library to leverage the full power of reactive programming in your apps.

Android Test-Driven Development by Tutorials — A book that teaches you to write sustainable, testable apps, as well as to apply testing strategies to legacy projects via Espresso and UI tests, code coverage and refactoring.

Advanced Android App Architecture — In Advanced Android App Architectures, you’ll find a diverse and hands-on approach to architecting your apps on Android. Learn how to build scaleable and maintainable architectures in Android and Kotlin, including MVC, MVP, MVI, MVVM and VIPER!

Saving Data on Android — A book that will teach you to persist data on Android — saving locally or remotely — along with the modern techniques for synchronization, allowing your app to be reactive and always up-to-date.

Data Structures & Algorithms in Kotlin — A book that teaches you the fundamental tools of implementing key data structures in Kotlin, and how to use them to solve algorithms.

Kotlin for Android App Development — This book hits the sweet spot between theory and practice, teaches you the best practices for object-orientation, functional programming, interoperability and more in Kotlin, and gives you a practical intro with hundreds of code listings.

Elements of Android Jetpack — This book follows in the footsteps of The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development, to introduce developers to Android app development, focusing on Jetpack. Here you will learn how to set up an Android app for Java or Kotlin, create a user interface, and more!

Exploring Android — This book has you build an app from the beginning. Whereas traditional programming guides are focused on breadth and depth, this book is focused on “hands-on”, guiding you through the steps to build the app.

Elements of Android R — Each new release brings new opportunities and new challenges for Android developers. Many of the new challenges are extensions of the problems introduced in last year’s Android 10. So, if you are worried about further changes to storage or permissions, or you are nervous about new restrictions being placed on developers, this book is for you!

Elements of Android Q — As usual, Android 10 changed some things that affect developers and apps. This book profiles those changes and helps point out what you need to do to adjust your app to cope with those changes. So, if you are worried about the death of external storage and other things that Android 10 brings with it, this book is for you!

Learning RxJava — In this book, you’ll cover the core fundamentals of reactive programming and learn how to design and implement reactive libraries and applications.

Gradle Recipes for Android — This hands-on guide provides a collection of Gradle recipes to help you quickly and easily accomplish the most common build tasks for your Android apps.

Android System Programming — Build, customize, and debug your own Android system.

Head First Android Development — You’ll learn hands-on how to structure your app, design flexible and interactive interfaces, run services in the background, make your app work on various smartphones and tablets, and much more.

Professional Android — Professional Android, 4th Edition shows developers how to leverage the latest features of Android to create robust and compelling mobile apps

Android Studio 3.6 Development Essentials — Update your Android studio skills and build modern Android applications using Java.

Mastering Firebase for Android Development — Develop a fully functional dynamic Android application using the latest features of Firebase.

The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development — This book contains over 200 chapters, covering everything from the first steps in getting an app going to advanced development techniques. Use the search field in the nav bar to see what is inside this book and the rest of the CommonsWare library!

Android’s Architecture Components — This book dives deep into the Architecture Components, showing you how they work individually and in concert.

Android Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide — Dive in to learn the foundations of Android application development. The content is now in Kotlin and updated with modern Android practices.

Atomic Kotlin — Atomic Kotlin is the book and associated learning resources by Bruce Eckel and Svetlana Isakova.

Effective Kotlin — Effective Kotlin summarizes the best practices and experiences of the Kotlin community, together with a deep explanation of some lesser-known Kotlin functionalities. All of the best practices are presented as simple rules with detailed explanations.

Kotlin Cookbook — Use Kotlin to build Android apps, web applications, and more—while you learn the nuances of this popular language.

Kotlin Apprentice — Learn programming with Kotlin! The Kotlin Apprentice is a book designed for complete beginners to Kotlin, a modern language used for Android development.

Kotlin Coroutines by Tutorials — Android is inherently asynchronous and event-driven, with strict requirements as to on which thread certain things can happen. Learn how to use Kotlin coroutines to solve common Android programming problems using asynchronous programming techniques!

Functional Kotlin — Learn how to apply Functional Programming with Kotlin to real-life projects with popular libraries like Arrow.

Hands-On Data Structures and Algorithms with Kotlin — Understand and solve complex computational problems and write efficient code with Kotlin.

Elements of Kotlin Coroutines — This book is designed to help you get “spun up” on coroutines and how they can be applied in your projects.

Elements of Kotlin — This introductory book to Kotlin focuses on helping existing programmers get up to speed on reading and writing Kotlin code. Particular emphasis is placed on the sorts of syntax and language capabilities that most Kotlin developers will need, with light coverage of the advanced capabilities that allow library developers to create easy-to-use APIs.

Programming Kotlin — If you want to learn the essentials of Kotlin, from the fundamentals to more advanced concepts, you’ve picked the right book.

Kotlin docs — Kotlin Language Documentation.

Hands-on Design Patterns with Kotlin — The mission of this book is to ease the adoption of design patterns in Kotlin and provide good practices for programmers.

Learning Concurrency in Kotlin — Beginning with an introduction to Kotlin’s coroutines, you will learn how to write concurrent code and understand the fundamental concepts needed to be able to write multithreaded software in Kotlin.

Learn Kotlin Programming — Kotlin is a general-purpose programming language used for developing cross-platform applications. Complete with a comprehensive introduction and projects covering the full set of Kotlin programming features, this book will take you through the fundamentals of Kotlin and get you up to speed in no time.

Effective Kotlin — Effective Kotlin summarizes the best practices and experiences of the Kotlin community, together with a deep explanation of some lesser-known Kotlin functionalities. All of the best practices are presented as simple rules with detailed explanations.

Kotlin Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide Book — Learn the new language that’s taking the Android world by storm in Kotlin Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide.

Mastering Kotlin — By the end of the book, you’ll have obtained an advanced understanding of Kotlin in order to be able to build production-grade applications.

Kotlin in Action — Kotlin in Action guides experienced Java developers from the language basics of Kotlin all the way through building applications to run on the JVM and Android devices.

The Joy of Kotlin — The Joy of Kotlin teaches you to write comprehensible, easy-to-maintain, safe programs with Kotlin.

Head First Kotlin — Head First Kotlin is a complete introduction to coding in Kotlin.

Kotlin Glossary — A short, sweet 21-page ebook on Kotlin that has a lot of terminologies, code snippets and helpful tips to help you in your Kotlin journey, whether you’re a beginner or someone who needs a Kotlin cheatsheet. 📒

ANDROID™ 4 APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT — This book focuses on basics of the Android developlment with JAVA as programming language.

Debug your Android apps with Charles Proxy. — A step by step guide to use Charles proxy to debug your android apps.

Debug your Apps without cable — As an Android developer, Debugging is one of the most common tasks which we do on a daily basis, lets do it easily.

• Google Africa Developer Scholarship (limited to Africa) is a program that gives participants free access to select courses, projects, embedded labs (powered by Qwiklabs) and skill assessments on Pluralsight; plus support from the Google Developer community. The program is in partnership with tech talent companies Pluralsight, Andela and Google. Google will give full scholarships (with certifications in Android and cloud development) to the top 1,000 students (beginner and intermediate developers) at the end of the training.
• The Google Developer Scholarship and the Power of Community is a Scholarship for students across the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region announced by Udacity and Google. On offer was the chance to land a scholarship for Udacity’s Android Basics, Android Developer and other Developer Nanodegree programs.

Note: Listed below are only a few courses provided by each platform. Please visit their site for a full catalog.

Android Things courses — Listed a few courses | Visit site for full catalog

CodingWithMitch courses — Listed a few courses | Visit site for full catalog

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