Posted by Luli Perkins, Developer Relations Program Manager
For the March edition of #AndroidDevJourney, we’re highlighting Android builders from all around the world with many alternative experiences. Early this yr, we launched the #AndroidDevJourney sequence to spotlight our group on our social media accounts. Each Saturday, from January by way of June, we’ll characteristic a brand new developer on our Twitter account.
For an opportunity to be featured in our April spotlight sequence, tweet us your story utilizing #AndroidDevJourney.
Wajahat Karim
Tell me about your journey to turning into an Android Developer and the way you bought began.
Since the age of 14, I used to be very keen on animations and graphic design. I used to observe commercial animations or cricket match animations of participant profiles on TV and marvel how I may create these. Later that yr, when my sister bought our house’s first PC, I began studying Microsoft Paint and later Adobe Flash. I labored on Flash for about 11 years all through highschool, University, and my first three jobs in sport growth.
Game growth was and has been my past love in pc science. But, Android grew to become one thing particular for me. It was NOT love-at-first sight as a result of I hated Android after I first discovered about it. I nonetheless do not know why. Coming from a poor household background, I received a completely-funded scholarship by way of Prime Minister ICT R&D Scholarship Program and enrolled in National University of Engineering & Technology (NUST), SEECS Islamabad campus.
In my third semester, Android was at 2.2 Froyo. An organization organized a workshop at our campus which was attended by excessive-degree tech of us like CTOs, software program architects, and lead engineers. University administration determined to ship three college students to attend that workshop and I used to be fortunate sufficient to be one among them. In easy phrases, the entire 3-days workshop was over my head. I used to be a beginner in C++ programming and did not know something about Java. And right here I used to be attempting to study excessive-degree Android.
After the workshop, I made a decision that Android was not for me. However, the college introduced an open programming competitors for any know-how. But they gave further factors for Android submissions. This was my calling. In greed of these further factors, I took up the problem. I borrowed the one Android e-book “Hello Android” from my instructor, Sir Shamyl bin Mansoor, and tried to study as a lot as I may. Somehow, I managed to submit my first Android app which I showcased on a borrowed laptop computer with a really gradual emulator of Android 2.2. To my shock, I received it and received Rs. 100,000 prize cash. First factor I purchased was an Android cellphone and my journey began.
I began writing about it in a WordPress weblog, organized workshops in numerous universities, made my closing yr challenge a 3D sport in Adobe Flash, and AIR deployed on a Samsung Galaxy 10 pill which had a brand new Android 4 Holo theme and the nice Fragments.
After commencement, I received a possibility from PacktPub (a e-book publishing firm) to jot down a full e-book on Android. This was one of the best achievement I ever obtained. I managed to co-writer two worldwide revealed 300+ web page books (Learning Android Intents & Mastering Android Game Development) on Android within the following two years.
Having about seven years trade arms-on expertise in Android growth, I spend plenty of time on writing and sharing my information with the group. I principally write on my website and on Medium. Besides writing, I’ve been energetic in open supply and have created some Android libraries like EasyFlipView, Room Explorer, and many others.
In 2017, I began doing public talking once more. At first, it was slightly robust to handle time whereas working a full-time job and freelance contracts, but it surely was value it. I received increasingly more energetic in talking and gave talks at occasions like Google IO Extended Karachi & Hyderabad in 2018 and 2019, DevFest 2019 Karachi, Pakistan’s first DSC Summit, Kotlin Everywhere 2019, and different native occasions.
From these occasions, Sami Kizilbash seen me and nominated me for turning into a Google Developers Expert. It was a troublesome time due to a severe medical scenario with my father at the moment, however a yr later in February 2020 I grew to become Pakistan’s first Google Developers Expert in Android. I by no means thought that I’d be a GDE in a area like Android. It is a giant honor and achievement for me, together with a sense of accountability to assist the group in a greater means now. Android growth has been my life gas, profession, introduced bread for me and my household and happiness in creating and delivering greater than 100 apps. With greater than 2.5 billion Android units as we speak, this is a superb profession selection with excessive progress and potential for upcoming college students and builders.
My GDE journey has been a incredible one. I’ve loved each second of it, all of the love I received from Google and fellow GDEs – together with Joe Birch who really impressed me to develop into GDE, Hasan Abid, Saurabh Arora, and Juhani Lehtimaki, and Saad Hamid who additionally helped me by way of the method. In all of the chaos of 2020, it was a really talkative yr for me, as I did 25+ on-line talks on Jetpack Compose animations ideas.
What’s one shortcut, tip, or hack you may’t dwell with out?
I merely love how Mnemonic Bookmarks make code navigation a lot sooner and simpler. When you’re engaged on a big codebase, it turns into tougher to recollect which technique was the place and what was occurring in one other Fragment. Simply, press Ctrl + F11 and select any quantity or character, for example 1. Now, if you press Ctrl + 1, Android Studio will carry you again on that actual line.
What’s the one piece of recommendation you want somebody would have given you if you began in your journey?
The Computer Science and Information Technology trade is altering and updating minute by minute. No matter what stage of your profession you’re at, it’s important to continue to learn and updating your skillset. Android is transferring at lightspeed, with alpha beta releases rolling out regularly. So, it has develop into tougher to catch up and study. So, get a Twitter account, and comply with the parents of #AndroidDev and you can be amazed how pleasant the Twitter developer group is. You will study new issues each single day whereas scrolling the Twitter feed. And most significantly, remember to offer again to the group. It could possibly be by way of retweeting, or sharing your personal code snippets, or writing articles, creating movies, or giving talks. In the top, you will note the extra you give to the group, the extra you acquire again. So, it is all value it.
Himanshu Singh
Tell me about your journey to turning into an Android Developer and the way you bought began.
My journey began from my school days. I received chosen as an Applied CS facilitator for Android by Google in my second yr of college. Because of this, I needed to take periods and assist college students full a set of duties as a part of Bootcamp. In my school days I used to be not superb at Android, so when the chance got here I took it upon myself to realize some information of Android after which assist individuals with their duties. Learning to construct apps that will be utilized by lots of people helped me select Android as a profession. And that’s how my journey to develop into an Android developer began.
What’s one shortcut, tip, or hack you may’t dwell with out?
I like to make use of the Macro shortcut in Android Studio.
What’s the one piece of recommendation you want somebody would have given you if you began in your journey?
As a newbie in any area, not simply Android, please preserve asking questions on methods to enhance and study from individuals locally. Some of them won’t reply your queries however a handful of them may. And on this means, you may study and develop from their expertise and when the time is correct, you may be capable to assist somebody within the coming future. This is the important thing to success!
Oluwasegun Famisa
Tell me about your journey to turning into an Android Developer and the way you bought began.
My journey in turning into an Android Developer began in 2010, my second yr of college after I had the chance to take part in a program known as “Entrepreneurial Programming and Research on Mobiles” (EPROM). It was a collaboration between MIT and Nokia, and my college was one of many campuses that ran this system. I didn’t research pc science, so this system was my first publicity to software program growth. I discovered methods to construct J2ME apps and received publicity to totally different cellular applied sciences on the time.
Shortly after this system, I received a piece-research alternative at iQube Labs, the place my mentor – James Fowe, who was constructing a cellular developer group in Nigeria – despatched me a bunch of sources and duties for me to discover ways to construct Android apps. The Android OS round 2010 was Android Froyo and that was the working system on which I ran my “Hello world” on Android. Within the subsequent yr, I discovered myself constructing precise apps on Android Gingerbread.
I’ve since labored as an Android Developer in numerous firms starting from small to mid-sized startups with hundreds of thousands of customers, to publicly traded firms, all throughout many international locations. I’ve had the chance of working with very sensible of us which have contributed to my progress and studying.
My journey just isn’t full with out speaking concerning the developer group. I take into account myself a product of the group and that’s why I attempt to give again once in a while when I’ve the chance.
I began getting concerned within the developer group at my college – by way of numerous pupil teams, together with my native GDG group then co-organized by Moyinoluwa Adeyemi (an Android GDE). I attended meetups and took part in developer challenges and hackathons.
Becoming a GDE for Android is a profession milestone I by no means noticed coming. It began in 2016 when John Kimani (Google DevRel supervisor for SSA) toured my workplace and we bumped into one another on the door. I wasn’t ready sufficient to develop into a GDE the primary time my profile was reviewed, however with suggestions, steering, mentorship and onerous work, I grew to become an Android GDE in 2018.
I’m grateful to have had the chance to journey to so many international locations all over the world and meet members of the worldwide Android Developer group. I’ve additionally given talks at conferences and meetups; together with DevFests, Droidcon (Nairobi, Dubai, Berlin, Boston), and 360AnDev, to say just a few, about matters I take pleasure in – Kotlin, Design Systems, Jetpack Compose, and Developer Productivity Engineering.
What’s one shortcut, tip, or hack you may’t dwell with out?
That’s such a troublesome one, however I’ll say my favorite AndroidDev tip proper now’s: use the Android code search instrument – https://cs.android.com – and Android API documentation as typically as potential. (See additionally: https://androidsrc.dev/)
The two sources have helped me in answering the “why is this not working” query and understanding what’s occurring below the hood. Lots of instances, I want to actually perceive what the Framework operate I’m calling does, and the reply is nearly at all times within the documentation or within the supply code.
What’s the one piece of recommendation you want somebody would have given you if you began in your journey?
I’ll give two for the value of 1:
- Structure and consistency are necessary when studying. One can’t presumably know the whole lot, however one can strive with sufficient of those two elements. Structured studying is turning into increasingly more accessible lately than it was, so one ought to benefit from it, persistently – by way of codelabs, or programs and the likes.
- Get used to studying official documentations and official supply codes. This is a priceless and transferable talent whatever the know-how one works with, so I’d advise to not draw back from it.
Karolina Pawlikowska
Tell me about your journey to turning into an Android Developer and the way you bought began.
From a younger age, I’ve at all times cherished science fiction books and flicks – I at all times had a intestine feeling that no matter profession path I went down, it might have one thing to do with computer systems. Programming rapidly grew to become my favorite artistic outlet – it began with creating web sites and apps after I was 11, primarily as a solution to improve my different passions corresponding to drawing and making puzzles for my mates.
I received my first Android cellphone after I was in highschool and instantly knew it might open a complete new world of alternatives for me, so I picked up just a few books and located just a few on-line tutorials which received me began with code on my cellphone working Android 2.1 Eclair.
My first app was a flashcards maker. I wanted one thing like that to assist me study English and I couldn’t discover something on-line – so I made my very own!
Thanks to some of my ardour initiatives, together with a flashcard maker app, I managed to rapidly land a job as an Android Engineer whereas I used to be nonetheless finishing my Computer Science diploma at college. I then tried working throughout just a few different areas in software program engineering, however in the end, Android was at all times my favorite and ended up turning into my specialty!
What’s one shortcut, tip, or hack you may’t dwell with out?
It’s not fairly a hack, however I actually don’t understand how I lived earlier than ConstraintLayout grew to become a factor! Oh – and Android Weekly’s mailing list, undoubtedly top-of-the-line methods to get all the related information and tutorials within the Android world delivered on to you each Monday!
What’s the one piece of recommendation you want somebody would have given you if you began in your journey?
Looking again, I undoubtedly suggest placing effort and being actually intentional about searching for out different Android engineers round you. Once I began proactively attending meetups and dealing with different engineers, my expertise and information grew exponentially. Collaborating and bouncing round concepts has at all times been my favorite solution to discover artistic and modern options to issues I’m engaged on.
