Know your tools

Android Studio

Do not forget to use shortcuts

Use plugins to increase efficiency.

1. KeyPromoter
   This plugin will make you suffer by showing a big ugly popup with a key combination that you should use instead of pressing a button in the IDE. After some time you will use shortcuts on the machine, just not to see this terrible popup.
   
   
2. String manipulation
   Simplifies working with strings, allows you to sort, translate into other encodings, remove duplicates, trim text and much more.
   
   
3. Lines sorter
   Adds an icon to the menu to sort the selected lines or the whole file if nothing is selected.
   ')
   
4. Findbugs
   Static bytecode analyzer to search for bugs in Java code using Android Studio.
   
   
5. Sonar lint
   A plugin that in runtime shows information about new bugs and violations of the quality of code in Java, JavaScript and PHP.
   
   
6. Checkstyle
   A plugin that scans Java files using Android Studio and checks them against the settings. It can be integrated into your build system to disable builds with violations.
   
   
7. Adb idea
   A plugin that adds ADB commands (installing and removing an application, restarting an application, etc.) in Android Studio and Intellij.

Use Live Templates when developing in Android Studio

Postfix code auto completion in Android Studio

 <expr>.null 

    null if(<expr> == null) 

 <expr>.notnull 

     null if(<expr> != null) 

 <expr>.var 

    T name = <expr> 

 <expr>.field 

      field = <expr> 

 <ArrayExpr>.for 

   for(T item : <Arrayexpr>) 

 <ArrayExpr>.fori 

   for(int i = 0; i < <Arrayexpr>.length; i++) 

 <ArrayExpr>.forr 

   for(int i = <Arrayexpr>.length - 1; i => 0 ; i--) 

Use the Darcula theme in Android Studio

Do not use uncomfortable / small print.

Use codestyle

Use the built-in terminal in Android Studio

Use Memory / Network / CPU monitoring in Android Studio to profile your application.

Emulator

Vysor

DeskDock

Choose the best tools when writing code

1. Use OkHttp instead of HttpUrlConnect.
   
   HttpUrlConnect contains a certain number of bugs . Okhttp quite nicely solved them. Announcement Okhttp .
   
2. Refer to the local `aar` files as follows .
   
   

    dependencies { compile(name:'nameOfYourAARFileWithoutExtension', ext:'aar') } repositories { flatDir { dirs 'libs' } } 

   
   
3. Use Pidcat for more convenient logging.
   
4. Use Version Control System (VCS), preferably git
   
5. Use ClassyShark
   A special program for Android developers, with which it allows you to analyze files like .apk, .jar, .class, .dex, .aar, .so. It can show information about the fields and methods of the class, dependencies. Apk, the number of methods used by the application, and so on.
   
6. Use Stetho
   Allows you to debug your applications using Chrome Dev Tools. Includes network monitoring (Network Monitor), displaying Shared Preferences.
   
7. Use Battery Historian
   The program for the analysis of battery consumption
   
8. When using dependencies, always use constants. For example, "24.2.0"
   Avoid using '+' to specify the versions of libraries used.
   This will allow you to avoid unexpected bugs or build problems if the new version changes the API. And also it is not necessary during the assembly each time to open an Internet connection to check the latest current version of the dependent library.
   
9. Use Handler instead of TimerTask
   
10. Do not use your personal personal email to publish applications.
    
11. Use vectors instead of PNG
    If you still have a png, squeeze them. Check out [TinyPNG] (https://tinypng.com) for this.
    
12. Use proguard
    
    

     android { ... buildTypes { release { minifyEnabled true proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro' } } } 

    
    
13. Use shrinkResources
    
    

     android { ... buildTypes { release { shrinkResources true minifyEnabled true ... } } } 

    
    
14. To simulate the killing of your application by the system in the background , run in the terminal
    
    

     adb shell am kill 

    
    
15. Learn the settings to speed up the build of gradle
    
    

     Gradle memory >= Dex memory + 1Gb 

    
    
16. Separate your .apk using gradle when you use native code. Do not mix everything together, because then you will suffer, understanding the source code.
    
    

     defaultConfig { ... ndk { abiFilters "armeabi", "armeabi-v7a", "mips", "x86" } } //Split into platform dependent APK splits { abi { enable true reset() include 'armeabi', 'armeabi-v7a', 'mips', 'x86' //select ABIs to build APKs for universalApk false //generate an additional APK that contains all the ABIs } } // map for the version code project.ext.versionCodes = ['armeabi': 1, 'armeabi-v7a': 2, 'mips': 5, 'x86': 8] // Rename with proper versioning android.applicationVariants.all { variant -> // assign different version code for each output variant.outputs.each { output -> output.versionCodeOverride = project.ext.versionCodes.get(output.getFilter(com.android.build.OutputFile.ABI), 0) * 1000000 + android.defaultConfig.versionCode } } 

    
    
17. Learn how to build an application architecture, such as MVP or Clean Architecture
18. Try to understand and use the TDD principle (Test Driven Development)
19. Make gradle reload cached dependencies
    
    

     ./gradlew --refresh-dependencies 

    
    
20. Exclude gradle TASK at assembly. Suppose you want to exclude the 'javaDoc' task, in which case use the '-x' option and name of the task, in this example 'javaDoc'
    
    

     ./gradlew clean build -x javaDoc 

    
    
21. More various gradle tricks
22. Follow the DRY (Do not Repeat Yourself) principle.
23. Separate packages by features, not by layers.
24. Learn how to solve dependency conflicts.
    Given the speed of developing android libraries and their updates, at some point you will encounter a dependency conflict in your application. Gradle allows you to solve these problems official documentation
    
25. Use a different package name to debug builds.
    
    

     android { buildTypes { debug { applicationIdSuffix '.debug' versionNameSuffix '-DEBUG' } release { // ... } } } 

    
    
26. Check for and fix memory leaks in your android application.
27. Use the standard name for your resources.
28. Start writing gradle tasks yourself
    Android uses Gradle as an assembly system, which allows you to simplify a lot of things and write your own tasks for automation. Post on reddit, which contains many useful gradle scripts .
    
29. Use the appropriate .gitignore in your Android projects, for example, this
    
30. Use LeakCanary to detect memory leaks in your application.
31. Accelerate gradle build in Android Studio 2.2+
    - Go to gradle version 3.1.
    
    Run the following command in your project directory to update the gradle wrapper.
    
    

     ./gradlew wrapper --gradle-version 3.1 

    
    - Set the build options in the global in the `gradle.properties` file
    
    

     android.enableBuildCache=true 

    
    
32. Stop the application build process with gradle
    
    

     ./gradlew -stop 

    
    
33. Configure gradle to automatically download the missing android sdk components.
    Set the following option in the global gradle.properties file.
    
    

     android.builder.sdkDownload=true 

    
    This is an experimental option, and it downloads only build tools and platforms, but does not update Google or the Support Repository.
    
34. Do not connect jcenter () and mavenCentral () at the same time in your build.gradle file, because
    JCenter includes MavenCentral .
    
35. Clean the gradle cache if you think that the android sdk libraries provided with support and google play services are incompatible.
    Go to the ~ / .gradle / caches / directory and delete all the contents in the cache folder.
    Open the SDK Manager and resynchronize all the support libraries and google play services.
    Next, update the gradle dependencies in the project.
    Now everything should be in good condition and work correctly.
    
36. Configure convenient `adb` aliases for your terminal .
    Add the following commands to your ~ / .bashrc or ~ / .zshrc file, save and restart the terminal. After that, you can use it as shown in the Usage column.
    

    Alias	Using
    alias screenshot="adb exec-out screencap -p > screen-$(date -j "+%s").png"	screenshot
    alias startintent="adb devices | tail -n +2 | cut -sf 1 | xargs -IX adb -s X shell am start $1"	startintent https://twitter.com/nisrulz
    alias apkinstall="adb devices | tail -n +2 | cut -sf 1 | xargs -IX adb -s X install -r $1"	apkinstall ~/Desktop/DemoApp.apk
    alias rmapp="adb devices | tail -n +2 | cut -sf 1 | xargs -IX adb -s X uninstall $1"	rmapp com.example.demoapp
    alias clearapp="adb devices | tail -n +2 | cut -sf 1 | xargs -IX adb -s X shell pm clear $1"	clearapp com.example.demoapp

    
    
37. Set Android Studio to crash when building if the code contains // STOPSHIP .
    To enable lint checking for //STOPSHIP , add to your `build.gradle`
    
    

     android { ... lintOptions { abortOnError true fatal 'StopShip' } } 

    
    If you have //STOPSHIP comments in the code, the release build will not build. In addition, you can also turn on the highlighting of such comments in Android Studio (disabled by default). Preferences → Editor → Code Style → Inspections . Look for STOPSHIP in the search and check the box for highlighting.
    
38. Use `adb install -g` to grant all permissions listed in the manifest .
    
39. Use Alfi to search libraries by name. You will be immediately offered a string to include in the gradle application build script. This is essentially a console version of Gradle, please - web applications.
    
    

     alfi $name_of_library$ 

    
    Copy the library you want. Paste into your build.gradle.
    
40. Use Dryrun to quickly and conveniently test a library or sample application.
    
    

     dryrun $REMOTE_GIT_URL$ 

    
    
41. Display unit test results directly to the console .
    
    

     android { ... testOptions.unitTests.all { testLogging { events 'passed', 'skipped', 'failed', 'standardOut', 'standardError' outputs.upToDateWhen { false } showStandardStreams = true } } } 

    
    
42. Build faster using offline mode .
    --offline flag tells gradle to use cache dependencies when building. If you run a build with this flag, gradle will never try to deflate network dependencies. If the required modules are not in the cache, the application will not build.
    
43. Collect debug builds as soon as possible:
    
    

     ./gradlew assembleDevelopDebug --offline 

    
    
44. Run unit tests as fast as possible:
    
    

     ./gradlew test --offline 

    
    
45. Encapsulate the Logger in a separate class.
    
46. If you want to automatically initialize the library, use the Content Provider. Read how Firebase does it .
    

UI / UX tips

Motion

Fonts, indents

Icons

Ripple

 android:background="?attr/selectableItemBackground" 

 ?attr/selectableItemBackgroundBorderless 

The remaining items

Other resources

• Listen to podcasts
  1. Fragmented
  2. Android Developers Backstage
  3. Russian-language podcast (from translator)
  These are the most popular, but you can find others.
  PS: I use Player.fm to listen to podcasts. They also have a free app .
  
• Brief android video interviews with experts .
• Many articles supported by the open source CodePath Android community Cliffnotes
  A centralized resource containing complete and current information on almost any topic of interest to the Android developer.
• Take care of copyright
• Check out new android libraries
  Android Arsenal - Resource for Android developers, containing many libraries to use.
• Learn the source of public android applications.
  1. A set of simple isolated examples of the construction of various components .
  2. Examples of applications provided by Google .
  3. Google Android Codelabs
  
• Use Twitter for your training.
  

Bookmark your browser with various popular resources.

• Android Developers - Youtube
• Android Niceties - UI Showcase
• Material Design Specs
• Everything About Material Design
• Platform Version Distribution
• Android Studio Release Notes
• Android Developers Blog
• AndroidDev-Reddit
• Github Trending Java Projects
• Stackoverflow-Android tag
• Support Library History
• Android Conferences
• Android Dev Docs
• Material Up - DesignShowcase
• Dribbble - MaterialDesignShowcase

Use the free mock API for testing.

• Mockey
• JSON Placeholder
• API Studio
• Mocky
• Mockbin

Subscribe to digests for android development

• Android Weekly - Free Digest to stay in trend and learn about new technologies.
• AndroidDevDigest - Weekly newsletter from AndroidDevDigest
• Infinium AndroidSweets - Latest news from the world of Android
• Kotlin Weekly - Free Kotlin Digest

More examples of useful programs

• Android SVG to VectorDrawable - Convert SVG to Vector
• SQLite Viewer - Allows you to view sqlite files online
• Android 9-patch shadow generator - A utility that allows you to fully kasmtomize shadows as much as possible
• APK method count - Helps you know the number of methods used in apk
• Material Palette - Generating a Material Color Picker
• Javadoc Themer - Paint boring javaDocs in different colors!
• Method Count - Use to easily find out the number of methods in libraries and not exceed the 65K limit!
• Gradle, please - Search for dependencies by library name to insert into the gradle script
• jsonschema2pojo - Generate a POJO from a json or json schema
• Android Asset Studio - Allows you to easily wrap screenshots in the frame of the smartphone

As a supplement - Android libraries developed by me personally.

• EasyDeviceInfo - Allows developers to easily get information about the device.
• Sensey - Gesture Recognition Library
• PackageHunter - Allows you to receive information about installed applications on the device
• Zentone - Easily generates the tone you need.
• RecyclerViewHelper - Provides various auxiliary functions.
• StackedHorizontalProgressbar - Horizontal progress bar
• QREader - Simplify reading QR codes using google mobile vision api
• ScreenShott - Allows you to programmatically take a screenshot of the device
• EvTrack - Library to simplify event and error tracking
• OptimusHTTP - Simplify Networking
• ShoutOut - Library for logging