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Syed Ghulam Murtaza
Syed Ghulam Murtaza

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State using Jetpack Compose

Transitioning from XML to Compose may pose challenges in grasping certain ideas.

State: Altering the UI post-rendering is impossible. However, you have control over the UI's state. Whenever the UI state undergoes modifications, Compose reconstructs the affected UI components.

Unidirectional Data Flow (UDF): Composables accept states and emit events, fitting seamlessly with Jetpack Compose. UDF is a design approach where state moves downward and events move upward.

Functions:
To manage the state of a UI component, we need to understand several functions:

  • remember: Helps in retaining state across recompositions, although the state isn't preserved during configuration changes.

  • rememberSaveable: Similar to remember, but automatically saves values that can be stored in a Bundle.

mutableStateOf(): An observable type in Compose used when the value can change at any point.

In practical terms, let's consider a scenario where we have a text field whose value changes as the user types. We can effectively manage this component's behavior using state.

First, we declare a variable to capture the value of our component:

Next, we simply assign the variable to receive the value from the text field:

This allows us to capture whatever the user types. Even if they alter the value, since we're consistently updating the text value, it remains synchronized.

As a result, components like TextField don't automatically update as they do in imperative XML-based views.

In Conclusion:
By combining a declarative UI approach with efficient state management and architecture patterns, Jetpack Compose enables developers to build visually appealing, robust, maintainable, and forward-looking apps.

Adopting Jetpack Compose isn't just a technological decision; it's a strategic move that propels Android app development towards innovation and efficiency.

Happy coding ❤

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