There are many people who do not know where to start to learn programming for Android . There are countless books, videos and websites on the subject. 

Some of these resources are free and some are non-free. Some of them contain hard contents and some contain easier contents to learn. In this article, we want to guide people who have no experience with Android applications.

Do we have to learn Android-specific platforms? Isn’t it better to learn flutter or react native? Will not replace Android in the future?

Android and iOS are the two main operating systems of smartphones, and companies like to offer their applications on these two platforms in order to capture a larger market. Therefore, they must choose whether they want to create two separate applications or use a common platform. If they want to use a specific language for each operating system, the code written will only run on the same operating system. This will save you a lot of time. Using platforms like Ionic, react native, Xamarin allows you to write a code to run your program on both operating systems. To summarize, these platforms have limitations that will not work well. Therefore, the use of special platforms should always be your priority.

Flutter is another shared platform introduced by Google. This platform has better features than the mentioned versions, but we must still say that it does not have the features of special platforms.

 

If you want to create an Android app for entertainment or you do not want to create a detailed app, you can use shared platforms. But if you are looking to become a professional in the field of Android applications, you should first get acquainted with Android-specific platforms.

Given the difficulty of finding educational resources, you need to understand that your learning process will be a time consuming process.

If you’ve been following Google News, you’ve probably heard of Fuchsia. The operating system introduced by Google and is thought to replace Android in the future. No one can fully confirm this. But you should be aware that Android applications also run on the fuchsia operating system.

To start learning to develop Android applications, should we start with Java or Kathleen?

Android applications can not be coded in Java alone. Kathleen is a modern programming language that has many advantages over Java. Coding is much easier in this environment. But does that mean we should not learn Java?

In a nutshell: Because there are so many educational resources for Java, learn Java first. Learning Java and Kathleen at the same time is very difficult and can be confusing. Set aside the benefits of Kathleen for now. Most Android app code is written in Java today, and the future of someone who knows Java is more guaranteed. We recommend that you learn Kathleen when you are proficient in Java.

Buy a book to start training or attend training courses? Do we have to follow all the instructions step by step?

In general, the best way to learn is to start your own project and try to solve it wherever you have a problem by doing research. You do not need to buy books or take courses.

If you are a beginner you probably have no idea how to get started. You may not even know how to install IDE. Learning these concepts through a Google search is difficult. For this reason, we recommend that you use an introductory textbook to learn the basics.

We recommend that you use the free Udacity training videos for this purpose. These videos are available on Google and are completely free. You do not need to know Java to view them. You can learn Java and Android at the same time. In these videos you will learn about concepts such as classes, variables and methods.

 

We recommend that you practice and practice for yourself while watching these tutorials. Even if you feel that you have learned everything while watching the videos, your weaknesses will not be identified until you take action yourself. If you do not do these exercises practically, you will forget everything after a short time.

When coding, we recommend that you start coding without any help or use anything, and when you encounter a problem, refer to the ready-made examples and solve your problem. This will make you use your mind more and your level will gradually improve.

If you feel tired while watching video tutorials and doing exercises, finish these tutorials as soon as possible and give yourself some rest, you can further strengthen your learning along the way.

How do we get started?

The Udacity course teaches you how to work with the XML editor. After learning the basics, start your project instead of reading boring books and learn what you need to do while doing the project. Gradually increase the level of your projects. If you have no idea how to create a new app, create one yourself.

We recommend that you learn only what you need. You do not need to learn all the concepts before applying them, you can learn the necessary and practical concepts while doing the project.

The most important point we want to make is this:

You see an interesting feature and you want to add it to your application. The first step is to do a Google search for it. If you ask someone else to teach it to you, they may not teach you everything. When searching, first study the official Android pages. After some time, you will find out which of these pieces of information are useful and which are not.

 

Once you have a good instruction, take action yourself. Do not just read or watch this tutorial. First try to add this feature to your application. You do not need to learn all the details at once. Do not get tired and keep trying. When you have a problem, do not ask others to solve it for you. First try to solve this problem yourself. As a programmer, you need to learn that Google is your best friend, and when you have problems, you should go to Google first.

Always remember that effective learning is hard work and sometimes tires you out. If you do not tolerate the problems, you may leave this path after a short time. But keep in mind that these problems will definitely improve your skills.

In addition to the ability to search Google, you must have good coding skills. Reading code written by others can be a good educational resource for you.

How to keep yourself up to date?

The official android developers blog is a good source that informs you about the latest developments in the field of Android. You can also use androiddev subreddit to keep yourself up to date .