AAR pt 7 (Android Architecture Components)

     

If you haven’t had a chance to read the first entry in the series for context, you can do so hereWay back in 2017 at Google I/O several architectural components were announced to help streamline Android development. Kotlin support was also announced. I’ve only just recently been able to get around to doing an app that implements both simultaneously. I’ve included some of my lessons learned below: LiveData The Android MVVM pattern relies on a custom implementation of the MVVM and Observer patterns.

One IDE to Rule them All

     

Most developers are pretty strongly opinionated about the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that they use. I will probably be no different eventually, but right now I’m still struggling to find Mr. Right. My first enterprise IDE was Eclipse Helios, way back in 2010. Prior to that I used some gosh-awful Ada native IDE that the government used to program tank ballistics computers and nuclear missiles. Eclipse at the time was awesome by comparison.

AAR pt 6 (Tools)

     

If you haven’t had a chance to read the first entry in the series for context, you can do so here. Over the course of a professional career you tend to acquire a lot of tools, regardless of the industry. I wanted to list some of my favorites in this blog entry, as well as some of my lessons learned from each. I’ll go into greater detail for each in the future, but for now I’ll just cover some of my major takeaways from each.

EECS

     

Way back in 2008 I was a sophomore at West Point. I had to pick a major that I would pursue for the next three years. Unlike most schools, I’d be more or less stuck with what I picked because changing my major halfway through and staying in school for another year was not an option. I had narrowed my choices down to Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science. I had considered Chemical Engineering at the onset of college, but had ruled it out after the joy that was organic chemistry my 2nd semester of freshman year.

AAR pt 5 (Android)

     

If you haven’t had a chance to read the first entry in the series for context, you can do so here. Now, about Android. Of the two native platforms (iOS & Android) I’ve found Android far and away to be the more challenging of the two. It’s more verbose, more error-prone, and less standardized. Google went a long way at Google I/O 2017 in resolving the first two with official support of Kotlin, and the last one with the adoption of the MVVM architecture pattern.