🐞 🐤 🦖 30+ concise professional recommendations for Android developer 😊 🤱🏿 👩🏽‍⚖️

Especially for students of the basic course "Android Developer" prepared a translation of useful material.

Becoming an Android developer is easy, but becoming a successful Android developer and standing out from the rest is not. It takes a lot of hard work, passion, dedication and perseverance to achieve this.

There is no shortcut or easy way that I could show you to become a truly successful developer. But if you are ready to make an effort and approach the matter with enthusiasm, you will certainly achieve the success you deserve.

If you have the desire to become the best Android developer, here are some professional recommendations based on my experience that will help you along the way. So, if you decide to start developing for Android or have been working as an Android developer for some time, you are right where you are.

So, without losing any more time, let's get started.

1. Better get familiar with the internal components of the Android framework

I mean getting to know the actual code of the Android framework rather than diving into the documentation. I saw how many developers were afraid to look inside and plunge into the insides of the Android framework to find out how the different components fit together and how everything really works.

If you need to increase your Android proficiency, stop already avoiding the expedition under the hood of the Android SDK and understand its internal work.

2. Try to overcome the fear of missing something important (FoMo - Fear Of Missing Out)

Android is big, very big. You cannot study it completely from cover to cover in a month or two or so. The more you recognize it, the more new things will arise in your way. For a beginner, it is perfectly normal to have a fear of missing something important.

But try to overcome it. Learn what you really need to learn in order to start working on the application that you are currently creating, and then gradually expand your horizons.

3. Start reading more code.

Most developers do not waste time reading what other developers write. They spend most of their time simply using what they already know.

But that will not help you grow as a developer. This will not increase your knowledge. You should start looking at other open source applications and libraries and continue to learn. 30 minutes of reading code every day is a good start. You will be surprised at how much new you discover that you did not even suspect.

Tip: here are some of the best open source apps to help you get started.

4. Consider learning more languages

I advise you to learn not new Spanish or Chinese, but new programming languages. You need to be aware of what is happening in the industry as a whole, and not just be limited to Android.

This will broaden your horizons and help you significantly improve your Android development skills. Make the decision to learn at least one new programming language each year. But weeks of fluent acquaintance with the new language only in order to subsequently leave it forever will not be enough. Try to penetrate the depths of the language and understand how it works inside.

Tip: Check out this amazing article to help you make the best choice. (SPOILER is Javascript)

5. It's time to learn Java design patterns

I cannot but stress how important this can be for your Android developer career in the long run. Whenever you get stuck in solving a critical programming problem, design patterns can really help you create an elegant solution.

You also need to speak the same language with other developers so that when they talk about using a factory , decorator, or facade pattern , you immediately understand what they mean.

Promise yourself to learn one new design pattern every week.

Tip: Here’s a great resource to help you get started. If you prefer books, then you should definitely readthis one .

6. Start contributing to open-source

If you have developed something useful and use it in your own application, consider making it open source. In the process, you will learn a lot, which will help you develop as a developer.

If you don’t have anything that could become an open-source product, you can look for other interesting open source projects in order to fix any bugs, supplement the documentation or write several tests there.

Even the smallest contribution will be useful for the accompanying project, helping him to continue his work.

Tip: Here is a great guide to get you started with open source.

7. Make your IDE work for you

Start spending more time understanding the IDE you're using - Android Studio. She can do much more than you think. The IDE has so many interesting features and shortcuts that most developers don’t even know about or even try to discover.

Get in the habit of looking for new and better ways to get your tools to work for you, thereby improving your workflow and productivity.

Tip: here is a great article to help you use Android Studio as a professional.

8. It's time to pay more attention to designing your application

In most cases, we find ourselves in a situation where we shove all our code into activity or fragments (you can blame me for this sin), turning them into gigantic divine objects that are almost impossible to maintain and test.

It is very important to choose a good architecture for your application, such as MVP , MVVM, Redux , etc. Consider dividing your application’s business logic, visual part, and data interactions into different levels to make it easy to manage. and test.

Tip : Check out these practical Google layouts to streamline your life when developing Android apps.

9. Learn the conventions for writing clean Android code

You just can't ignore it. It is very difficult to work with developers who do not write clean code without observing at least the basic conventions for writing code when developing for Android.
This is not rocket engineering, and it will only take you a few hours to learn most of the basic conventions for writing Java and Android code. This should not be a one-time affair; consider it rather as a change in the developer’s lifestyle.

Tip: Here is a great resource to start learning the standard coding conventions.

10. Spend some time learning the best Android practices.

To get an edge over other developers and create applications that look and work well, you need to start learning the best Android development practices.

This is in some experience how to and should not be done, which can help you become the best developer and distinguish your application from the rest.

Tip: here is a selection of best practices for creating the best apps.

11. Make good use of your free time while listening to podcasts.

Try to use your time correctly and effectively. There are times when you drive to / from the office, train in the gym, drive in a car, cook, etc., and your ingenious brain is not too busy.

You can take advantage of such moments while listening to useful podcasts about Android. Always prefer that your brain is as busy as possible with useful and informative things, and try to make the most of your time.

Tip: Fragmented Podcasts and Android Developers Backstage are two great podcast channels to get you started.

12. Do not overdo it. Be realistic.

I saw how this happens not only with me, but also with several other fellow developers with whom I worked. Thinking about something before starting to work on it is good (rather, very good), but excessive planning and analysis does not lead to anything but unnecessary confusion, delay and concern.

Do what seems useful to the project right now. You can always adapt to changing situations in the future as needed.

13. Try to understand a little design

I understand that as a developer, you focus on learning how to write better code, and this is pretty obvious. But if you want to be a full-fledged developer, you should also spend time every day learning and understanding UI / UX design.

This will completely change your view of the applications that you programmed all this time. Try to communicate more and interact with UI / UX-designers in your team to better understand the design of applications.

Tip: Read this amazing book if you're interested in understanding how design really works.

14. Become a perfectionist

This is a subjective topic, because what is “perfection” for me may not be “perfection” for others. But as a rule, always try to get the best version of the product that you are capable of.

Never settle for less. Do not work on something just because it is necessary. Be passionate about the work you do and do it better than others. This will help you constantly grow and become a successful developer in the long run.

Tip: Speaking of excellence, this Instabug tool , . . .

15. —

If you want to be successful as an Android developer (or someone else in this life), you must be consistent.

Doing something for a few days or weeks, and then giving up, you will not go anywhere. Try to visualize yourself where you want to be as an Android developer in the next few years, and stick to your goal no matter what challenges you face.

It is very easy to start doing something, but it is very difficult to continue to do it with the same passion and devotion for a (very) long time.

16. Start small. Progress gradually.

As a developer, you should always break down any complex problem or function that you are working on into small, simple and independent components that can be easily and quickly understood and solved.

Do not overload yourself with the original size or complexity of the project. Everything can be decided when you are on the right track. Start small, take small steps and progress slowly.

17. Always have a draft sandbox on hand

Having a sandbox project can completely change your way of learning. If you suddenly come across something new in Android, make it a habit to try it right away in your test project.

Suppose you find an interesting Android library somewhere. Instead of just looking at the documentation and the API, you should immediately play around with it in your test project. This will give you a much better and deeper understanding of the library.

18. Start writing more tests.

I cannot stress how important this is. You cannot consider a feature completed until you write comprehensive tests for it. Tests will help you create islands of confidence in your code.

Do not make a mistake by neglecting testing or viewing it as something “optional” and making your life more painful with regression errors later. Remember that code written without tests instantly becomes legacy code.

19. Consider adopting TDD

When you develop an application, consider making it reliable and efficient so that it can stand the test of time.

Start following the red-green-refactoring TDD cycle (development through testing). First write a test case that initially will not pass ( red ), then write the real code that will pass the test ( green ), and then proceed to further clean up and optimize the code ( refactoring ).

Development through testing is a way to control fear during programming. Fear makes you unsure. Fear makes you want to communicate less. Fear makes you shy away from feedback. Fear makes you grumpy. - TDD By Example

20.

As a developer, try as little as possible to do what can and should be automated, for example, checking the quality of applications and release.

You must automate the quality control mechanism using tools such as CheckStyle , PMD , Lint , FindBugs . Performing all unit and instrumental tests before merging any significant changes is mandatory.

When all these checks are passed, you get a green signal to publish the APK on the Play Store or distribute it in any other way (for example, Crashlytics Beta).

Tip: Consider automating the release process on the Play Store using tools like this..

21. Take a reactive programming approach

If you want to enhance your Android developer skills, you should definitely take a proactive approach. This will make you think completely differently about how you create applications.

A reactive path will undoubtedly help you create interactive applications faster and again make your life easier and more fun.

Tip: here is a great series to learn the basics of developing RxJava for Android.

22. Learn how to use Kotlin for Android development.

Kotlin is currently one of the most beloved and discussed languages when it comes to Android development. It is also an officially supported language for developing Android applications. This lightweight language brings a breath of fresh air to the Android world.

This is one of the best things that has happened to Android developers who are tired of working on the good old, verbose and error-prone Java. Try it and you will surely find lost happiness in your life during the development process.

Tip: Learn more about why you should start learning Kotlin for better Android development .

23. Visit mitaps and be more sociable with other developers.

As developers, we are usually very introverted; we want to sit in the corner with our computer and be in our own world.

But try to get out of your comfort zone and interact more with other developers. There are many things you can learn by visiting developer meetings, social meetings, and talking with other developers who have similar interests like you.

Tip: here you can find information about the mitaps that interest you most.

24. Get to know the hot keys

Try to keep your mouse as small as possible. There are hotkeys for almost every action you might want to perform in Android Studio.

This will significantly reduce your development time and improve your workflow. Memorizing hot keys may initially take some time, but in the long run, this will help you move on to a truly mouse-free workflow.

Tip: if you don’t want to memorize hotkeys the old way, here is a great AS plugin that will help you with this.

25. Try to learn at least one new Android material every week.

In the vast world of Android, there are many things to learn and understand that can stun you when you come across them. But life will be easier if you promise to learn one new piece of Android stuff every week.

Make a list of all the topics that you don’t know, give them priorities and start defeating them one by one every week. After a few months, you will be much further than you started.

26. Automate everything that eats your time

We engineers are lazy by birth and always try to find a simple way to do a boring job.

So, if you need to do something repetitive and boring several times a day, think about automation. This together will save you quite a lot of time every week, which you can spend on other productive and useful things, and reduce your anxiety.

Tip: Take a look at this amazing tool that can help you connect and automate the communication between several tools that you use almost every day.

27. Think about launching two versions of Android Studio

Always keep a stable version of Android Studio available to complete all your important daily tasks. But also consider having the beta version of the latest Android Studio installed.
Sometimes there are many new and exciting features that make their way to these early builds that you would like to get your hands on as soon as possible.

28. Periodically check all third-party libraries.

We all love to use libraries the moment we need them, and this is absolutely normal. But make it a habit to check all third-party libraries that you added from time to time, and delete those that you no longer need.

If you use only a small part of a specific library, consider extracting it instead of using the entire library. Periodic auditing will also help you update libraries that also require urgent updates.

29. Learn the best ways to refactor legacy codebases

Do not make the mistake of completely refactoring the huge legacy code base. This will lead you into a trap from where there is no way out.

Rather, consider refactoring the parts of the code base that you need to work on right now, and then slowly expand it to other parts when necessary. Also, consider writing test cases for the part that you want to modify before touching any code that you suspect might violate existing functions.

Tip: This book completely changed the way you work with legacy code. You must read it.

30. Always design and test on budget devices

If you want to develop applications as a professional, never make mistakes when developing and testing applications on high-end devices. As a rule, we developers own high-class flagships and also use them to develop and test applications. But this is something you should absolutely refrain from.

Try to get the cheapest and cheapest devices that can be found on the market, and develop the habit of developing applications only for them. You will begin to see many shortcomings in your applications that you were previously unaware of.

31. Buy the best work machine you can afford

Never make the mistake of buying a cheap work machine to turn your development experience into torment every day.

Consider using a Mac (instead of Windows) for development. You will fall in love with its simplicity and stability.

And if you're buying a MacBook, consider getting one that has the best features. A few hundred dollars will not ruin you, and you will always be grateful for making this decision.

Hope these tips help you become the best Android developer . You have read and understood these tips, but the time has come to transform them into real actions, and only then can you feel their real power.

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30+ concise professional recommendations for Android developer