Starting with Android Development: Where the Heck Do I Begin? 😅

Hey there,

So, I've decided to jump into the Android development whirlwind, but here's the thing: I'm a tad overwhelmed with where to start. 🤯 There's Java, there's Kotlin, and a ton of code-y stuff ahead.

Any suggestions on what's like the first building block I should tackle? I promise I won't judge if you say "start with a deep breath" 😄 But seriously, all tips are welcome!

Catch you on the code side! 🚀📱

Comments

[Daniel Rendox]

First, welcome to DEV! I feel sorry for DEV community not answering your great question. DEV is not really well suited for both such questions and Android devs. I guess that’s the reason why we have Sloan’s Inbox. You just submit the question, the moderator posts it, and it automatically gets a number of views. You’re in the right place though to communicate, meet new people, and showcase your work!

I’d recommend starting with Kotlin simply because all the modern Android dev is in Kotlin and a lot of learning resources are Kotlin-only. Among the most important choices is also a modern UI framework or XML view system. The first one is called Jetpack Compose, and it’s 90% likely to be the future of Android. So I’d recommend you pick it. However, you’ll also need to learn some things about the view system because old standard things don’t go away.

Regarding how you actually start, you’re absolutely right — take a breath, one step at a time, just try and build something. I’ve actually just written a blog about this.

Here are some good resources:

• Google codelabs are a gem for learning Android. Start with this free course for absolute beginners — Android Basics with Compose. You don’t need to learn Kotlin first, you can start with the course right away.
• Another godsend is Philipp Lackner’s YouTube channel. Definitely check out AndroidDevelopers too.
• Regarding communities, we have Kotlin Slack, r/andrioddev, and StackOverflow, of course. Feel free to reach out to me as well!