How to Build Android Apps with Kotlin

Unleash the power of Android programming to build scalable and reliable apps using industry best practices

Key Features:

• Build apps with Kotlin, Google’s preferred programming language for Android development
• Unlock solutions to development challenges with guidance from experienced Android professionals
• Improve your apps by adding valuable features that make use of advanced functionality

Book Description:

Looking to kick-start your app development journey with Android 13, but don’t know where to start? How to Build Android Apps with Kotlin is a comprehensive guide that will help jump-start your Android development practice.

This book starts with the fundamentals of app development, enabling you to utilize Android Studio and Kotlin to get started with building Android projects. You’ll learn how to create apps and run them on virtual devices through guided exercises. Progressing through the chapters, you’ll delve into Android’s RecyclerView to make the most of lists, images, and maps, and see how to fetch data from a web service.

You’ll also get to grips with testing, learning how to keep your architecture clean, understanding how to persist data, and gaining basic knowledge of the dependency injection pattern. Finally, you’ll see how to publish your apps on the Google Play store.

You’ll work on realistic projects that are split up into bitesize exercises and activities, allowing you to challenge yourself in an enjoyable and attainable way. You’ll build apps to create quizzes, read news articles, check weather reports, store recipes, retrieve movie information, and remind you where you parked your car.

By the end of this book, you’ll have the skills and confidence to build your own creative Android applications using Kotlin.

What You Will Learn:

• Create maintainable and scalable apps using Kotlin
• Understand the Android app development lifecycle
• Simplify app development with Google architecture components
• Use standard libraries for dependency injection and data parsing
• Apply the repository pattern to retrieve data from outside sources
• Build user interfaces using Jetpack Compose
• Explore Android asynchronous programming with Coroutines and the Flow API
• Publish your app on the Google Play store

Table of Contents

Part 1: Android Foundation

Chapter 1: Creating Your First App

Chapter 2: Building User Screen Flows

Chapter 3: Developing the UI with Fragments

Chapter 4: Building App Navigation

Part 2: Displaying Network Calls

Chapter 5: Essential Libraries: Retrofit, Moshi, and Glide

Chapter 6: Adding and Interacting with RecyclerView

Chapter 7: Android Permissions and Google Maps

Chapter 8: Services, WorkManager, and Notifications

Chapter 9: Building User Interfaces Using Jetpack Compose

Part 3: Testing and Code Structure

Chapter 10: Unit Tests and

Integration Tests with JUnit, Mockito, and Espresso

Chapter 11: Android Architecture Components

Chapter 12: Persisting Data

Chapter 13: Dependency Injection with Dagger, Hilt, and Koin

Part 4: Polishing and Publishing an App

Chapter 14: Coroutines and Flow

Chapter 15: Architecture Patterns

Chapter 16: Animations and Transitions with CoordinatorLayout and MotionLayout

Chapter 17: Launching Your App on Google Play

Who this book is for:

If you want to build Android applications using Kotlin but are unsure of how and where to begin, then this book is for you. To easily grasp the concepts in this book, a basic understanding of Kotlin, or experience in a similar programming language is a must.

Review

“The authors use a practical approach with good sample apps and detailed step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow. This second edition of the book has been updated to Android 13 and the latest Android Studio. All screenshots are new and updated, some useful diagrams have been added, and each chapter starts with an enumeration of the topics covered. This book is for people without prior experience with Android app development; however, knowledge of the Kotlin programming language is required.

In summary, an excellent book to get started with modern Android app development updated to the latest version of Android and Kotlin.”

Juan C Catalan, Senior Principal Software Engineer, Medtronic

“I really liked the book; it has everything you need to have a really good basis to start building your own apps, such as the Gradle build system, UI with XML and Jetpack Compose, Animations, Navigation, Network Calls, Coroutines, Recycler View, Permissions, Services, WorkManager, Notifications, Persistence, Dependency Injection, Testing, and so on, and it also teaches you how to publish your app to the Play Store.

The book is simple to understand, it has illustrations, diagrams, code snippets, and examples.

It really has everything you need to get you started on the right foot.

I highly recommend it.”

David Caplette, Senior Software Engineer at EPAM Systems

“This book offers beginners a detailed roadmap to Android app development. It starts with setting up an Android Studio project and ends with publishing the app on the Store. Balancing the basics of app development with insights into complex internal aspects, the book proves itself a valuable resource for beginners. Its in-depth walkthroughs and practical approach make it a trusted guide for anyone starting their Android development journey.”

Artur Kuzmin, Director of Engineering at Squire, Google Developer Expert in Android

About the Author

Alex Forrester is an experienced software developer with more than 20 years of experience in mobile, web development, and content management systems. He has been working with Android for over 8 years, creating flagship apps for blue-chip companies across a broad range of industries at Sky, The Automobile Association, HSBC, The Discovery Channel, and O2. Alex lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and daughter. When he’s not developing, he likes rugby and running in the Chiltern hills.

Eran Boudjnah is a developer with over 20 years of experience in developing desktop applications, websites, interactive attractions, and mobile applications. He has been working with Android for about 7 years, developing apps and leading mobile teams for a wide range of clients, from start-ups (JustEat) to large-scale companies (Sky) and conglomerates. He is passionate about board games (with a modest collection of a few hundred games) and has a Transformers collection he’s quite proud of. Eran lives in North London with Lea, his wife.

Alexandru Dumbravan has been an Android Developer since 2011 and worked across a variety of Android applications which contained features such as messaging, voice calls, file management, and location. He continues to broaden his development skills while working in London for a popular fintech company.

Jomar Tigcal is an Android developer with over 10 years of experience in mobile and software development. He worked on various stages of app development for small startups to large companies. Jomar has also given talks and conducted training and workshops on Android. In his free time, he likes running and reading. He lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife Celine.