I just released my first Android app. My journey from no clue how to code to release.

[thetestspecimen]

Hi,

I decided a while ago that I needed a new challenge. That challenge, for various reasons, turned out to be writing an Android application. I'm glad to say that I actually made it to the end after approximately 1.5yrs of learning and keyboard bashing (sometimes with my head) in my spare time.

For both my own reference, and hopefully to help others who are thinking of going through the same process, I have written a blog post that should shed some light on the ups and downs of learning to code a native Android app from scratch.

Before I started I could not code at all, so don't let lack of knowledge put you off.

You can check out the blog post here: https://www.thetestspecimen.com/android-app-journey/

...and if you are interested in what I made there is a website and direct link to the app on the playstore here:

App: http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thetestspecimen.wanderfile

Website: https://wanderfile.app/

Any questions please do ask, it was a great journey, and I would encourage you to give it a shot!

 

[wseng92]

Hi, thanks for the sharing . It is very motivated.

To complete a traveling app, where did you get all the informative data ?

I also notice that you have a web-site that work similar with your app. What language are you using to support android app and web app ?

 

[thetestspecimen]

The data displayed in the app is from various sources. Some I have written myself, others are from public domain online databases that I have recompiled, and some are taken from APIs that I have access to. If you go to the "Libraries & Attributions" section in the settings menu of the android application you can actually see a lot of the sources I have used for many things.

The android app is written in a combination of Java and XML, which is standard for a native android application. You can now also use Kotlin (a new language) as an alternative to Java if you want to. The server side language is python (i.e. the framework I use on my server to backup data for the android app uses python).

The website uses HTML, CSS, PHP and Javascript. It is based on a framework called MaterializeCSS, which is similar in function to bootstrap (assuming you know what bootstrap is). The main thing about the materialize framework is that it is based on material design, which are the same principles that android uses, hence they look similar in design.

The website is actually fairly simple, it just gives examples of how the app works, it doesn't provide the same functionality as the app.

 

[wseng92]

Thanks for your detailed response !