Last Week

Development environment is set up. Bog standard Android Studio on Linux. Gradle builder works as expected. Emulator launches sample app correctly.

Tools used:

What does it mean in English?

  • An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is little more than a fancy text editor in which human-readable code is written.
  • Gradle Build Tool collects everything an app needs and assembles them into a neat package (aka. an app) your computer/phone can use.
  • Android Emulator is an app that pretends to be an Android phone on a computer so an app made for Android can be run and tested on a computer.

No one knows how to write an app

Even the most humble app that does nothing other than displaying a “hello world” message is beyond every developer’s reach.

Below I describe the workflow of an app developer and bold tools and components typically not made by said developer.

  • The developer writes the app in a text editor, which runs on an operating system, which runs on a computer, which requires electricity, which…
  • Gradle Build Tool takes the app code the developer writes, combines with dozens of libraries the app needs, and uses a compiler to translate it into a language a processor understands.
  • Android Emulator then runs the built app for the developer to test for bugs.

I am but a fly atop the shoulders of giants.

Next Week

Enumerate all screens that compose the initial version of the app. Make screen composables.

Stretch goal: implement navigation to link all screen composables.