Who this book is for
This book is for all those developers who want to learn how to create native applications for Android using the modern tools recommended by Google. It is assumed that the reader has prior knowledge in programming, although not necessarily in mobile development.
We will start from the basics of the Kotlin language and gradually build complete and functional applications with Jetpack Compose.
About the author
This book was written by Andrés Cruz Yoris, a Computer Science graduate with more than 10 years of experience in application development. I put at your disposal my learning, reflected in each word, to offer you a simple guide with which to start developing in modern Android with Compose.
Additional Resources
Errata and comments
If you have any questions, recommendations or found an error, you can contact me through desarrollolibre.net/contacto or by email desarrollolibre.net@gmail.com.
What You Will Learn with this book
Part 1: Essential Fundamentals
- Chapter 1: Introduction to Kotlin
- We lay the foundations of the modern language for Android. We cover variables, functions, classes, data classes and the crucial null safety.
- Chapter 2: Fundamental Composables and Layouts
- We set up Android Studio and create our first project. We understand the structure of an app with Compose and the declarative UI paradigm.
- We explore the building blocks of the UI:
Text, Button, TextField. We learn to organize the screen with Column, Row and Box.
- Chapter 3: Advanced Features in Android with Jetpack Compose
- We display web content with
WebView and communicate with the user through Notifications, including permission and channel management. - API Consumption with Retrofit: We get data from the internet using Retrofit. We model JSON responses, handle loading and error states, and display the data in the UI.
- Web Integration and Notifications: We display web content with
WebView and communicate with the user through Notifications, including permission and channel management.
- Chapter 4: Integration of External Services in Jetpack Compose
- Audio and Video Playback: We integrate multimedia capabilities, playing audios with
MediaPlayer and embedding YouTube videos, correctly managing the life cycle. - Access to Device Sensors: We take advantage of the device's hardware, focusing on the accelerometer to detect the phone's movement and orientation.
- Custom Drawing with Canvas: We unleash creativity by learning to draw directly on the screen with the
Canvas Composable to create custom graphics and components. - Bringing the Interface to Life with Animations: We explore the powerful Compose animation API to animate visibility, color, size and position, creating a fluid user experience.
- Chapter 5: Practical Project - Creating a To-Do List App
- It's time to put it all together! In this chapter we will build a complete to-do list application from scratch, applying concepts of state, navigation, ViewModel and animations.
The Android development journey is continuous, but with what you have learned in this book, you already have the most important tools in your belt, it is a basic book to take the first steps with Modern Android and it will have more content in the future.
