Top 6 learning resources for Android Developers

In my opinion, learning is a lifelong process, and that's a popular point of view today mainly because it's information age. Knowledge now is the most powerful tool, not the only one that is needed for success, though. Furthermore, without it, no other tool can help you achieve it.

I think that you already know the importance of learning if you read this blog. So today I'll give you my top 10 learning resources for Android Developers.

1. Udacity

Udacity is my favorite online-learning platform. And I think it'll always be. The enthusiasm and passion with which its' CEO and co-founder Sebastian Thrun develops and maintains the platform are encouraging.

First of all, it worth to mention that Udacity is not an Android tutorials platform. There are a plethora of courses and nanodegrees for different professions and specialties, such as iOS, web development, tech entrepreneurship, machine learning, cloud computing and so on and so forth.

With his platform, Sebastian Thrun wants to repair today's broken education system. Provide learners with an affordable source of knowledge and give them an opportunity to enter the business area of their dreams and moreover, perform great in this area.

For Android developer, there are 2 great nanodegrees. One is for beginners and the second one is for intermediate. Both are made by in partnership with Google that makes this information a first-hand. In my opinion, this is a great opportunity to learn for those who participated in the platform development.

The one for beginners was introduced not long ago, at Google I/O 2016 I believe. It contains Android Development for Beginners wich was the first course I've completed on Udacity, and many other courses that will help a starting out developer to build a portfolio full of basic Android apps. 

And the second one and the one that I'm in the process of passing Android Developer Nanodegree. This one is great so far and as I think is most complete Android course out there. It'll teach you how to build advanced applications that require careful design and implementation.

These nanodegrees are $199/month and $299/month for Nanodegree Plus (you'll get a job offer or 100% refund) and if you graduate in 12 months you'll get 50% tuition refund. Also, you can complete all the courses for free but you'll not get benefits of nanodegree such as code reviews, personal instructions etc.

2. Android Weekly

This is not an educational platform like Udacity. It's not even a blog or something. It's a newsletter, but the effort that its' editors put in every newsletter is priceless and make it such a great source of new information about Android. 

I mean, this is just a mediator, but such a great mediator. Android Weekly is not only for those who wants to learn about Android but also for those who just want to be up to date with everything that happens in Android community.

It provides you with information about latest blog posts from all around the web, new podcast releases, new youtube videos and even conference and job offerings. Without it, I would probably bash my head against a wall searching all this.

I really encourage you to visit Android Weekly and subscribe to their newsletter.

3. Android Hive

Yet another great way to learn about Android. The author of this blog is Ravi Tamada and he is as said a Hardcore Android Developer.

There are so many great, valuable, and detailed tutorials about Android and  technologies related to it.

Almost anything you can think of in Android Development is already written as a tutorial on this blog. Really recommend it!

4. Android Developers Blog

Who can get you in the insights of Android better that people who made this? I think no one.

And this is what all about this blog is. The people from Google's Android team sharing tips, tricks, insights and new features of Android.

If there's something that should be discussed in Android community, be sure that there is already a blog post about it on Android Developers Blog.

5. Google Code Labs

I've already written a blog post about these the other day, but it never hurts to mention them another time.

Great tutorials with on the go instructions about special features that you may want to implement in your Android app.

6. Android Development Training

And of course last but not least the Android Development Training. 

Here you can find most up to date information about crucial parts of Android Development provided with code samples from real Android apps and detailed explanations of all what is going on in the code.

If you stuck during development and don't know how to implement a common feature this is the first place where you should go for help.

Also, in the Udacity courses this training often acts as a reference for students.

So here's my Top 6 of learning resources for Android Devs. If you know something great and this is not in this list please share in the comment section below, I'm learning too so extra supply of knowledge can not hurt.

It's all for today, see you in the next one! (or in the comment section :) )

P.S. It would be douchy to include myself in this list but I'm writing about Android Dev too!

Google Code Labs

The best (and the easiest as well) way of learning is by doing. But to get the idea of what you need to do you need someone to tell you (this is the main purpose of this blog).

Google Code Labs are doing exactly that. In codelab, you go through the lesson and build a small app that contains some feature like Google Sign in, Android Pay, Face Detection etc.

There are also codelabs that teach you to use new tools of SDK and Android Studio like ConstraintLayout.

At the moment, I've tried one codelab called "Build a Material Design App with Android Design Support Library" and have learned about ViewPager and NavigationDrawer also you can learn how to implement flexible space with image during this code lab.

One flaw that me and my friend noticed is the lack of comments in the code. Most of the codelab you will be asked to copy/paste/rewrite some code to make things work the desired way.

But for me, it was an encouragement to learn about used thing trough reading docs and blog posts.

There are a plethora of codelabs for any kind of developer. Whether you want to learn about Android, The Web or Firebase integration there is a codelab for you. Also, there are codelabs about Google APIs, Unity game engine, Virtual Reality and even one about Google Codelabs.

There is the list of codelabs that I want to complete during this week and I think that you will be interested in them too.

Building Apps that Sign In with Google

The reason why I want to complete this is that I always signing in every app with Google account if there is a possibility to do so. All these registration steps exasperate me and if I can start using an app without them I will and I want my users to be able to do so.

Echo with Android Howie Library

This I want to pass because one of my friends asked me to build an app for introverts :). The idea is that you will record something like in Whats App but you instead of sending it to someone you will save it on your phone and will be able to listen to it later. And this codelab will help me with this app.

Using ConstraintLayout to design your views

When I saw ConstraintLayout at Google I/O Keynote I reacted skeptically. I still think that ability edit source code gives you more flexibility and control over layout that any drag-and-drop layout builder. 

But I want to give it a try. At the end of the day, developers (me as well) will send feedback about it and it'll become better with time.

Automated Performance Testing and Android Testing codelabs

Proper tests will never hurt your app. Actually, developers dislike testing because the main goal of it is to break your app. But in the perspective testing will help you to provide your users with high-quality product and updates. I think that it worth breaking your app if it will lead your app to success.

Face Detection with the Mobile Vision API

Do I even need to explain why I want to complete this codelab? 

IT'S FREAKING COOL!

Face detection is awesome! You can not only detect faces, with Mobile Vision you can also catch facial expressions, and all of it on MOBILE PHONE. We didn't even think about it 5-7 years ago and now it's just a deal of passing a codelab.

All these I want to complete in a week. Likely, I will update this post after completing every codelab and will tell you what I think about it. So be tuned in follow me on Twitter, G+ and Facebook to not miss future updates.

It's pretty all for today. See you in the next one!