What is a software development stack?
The software development stack is a set of components that can help you run your application efficiently. We can highlight some of them:
- Programming languages can be various. For example, C++, Java, PHP, Kotlin, etc. This is one of the main tools to develop any software product. The C++ programming language is used for a vast development spectrum like embedded systems, operating systems, video games, etc. Java and PHP can be used to develop web servers. Kotlin is used to develop mobile applications.
- Databases. For example, MongoDB, MySQL, NoSQL, RoomDB, etc. The databases are used for storing different types of data, for example, first/last names of users, their cell phone numbers, address, etc. So it’s an essential and indispensable tool for large projects.
- CI/CD tools. They can help you automate your software product’s development, testing, and deployment. Here are some examples: Jenkins, Tektone Pipelines, GoCD, etc.
- Operating system. No matter how tritely it sounds, it is an important part of this “chain”. The Operating system is the environment where your product will be developed (optional) and, in the future, will be launched. Here are some of them: Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, etc.
So, as you can see, the software development stack is a complex set of different languages, systems, and tools. For different platforms and tasks, such stack will be different, but in some cases, it will be similar. For example, you can use Java programming language to develop Android applications or web servers. So, what is the modern technology stack for mobile applications? Let’s take Android as an example.
Technology stack for creating Android apps
The tech stack for mobile apps works on the Android platform and has different software tools, languages, and frameworks. First, we need a device that can run the Android operating system. This is the leading hardware requirement for launching Android applications. We need a Linux or Windows-based PC to launch Android Studio IDE for development. This is the leading tech stack for android app nowadays. Google provides developers with a considerable number of different tools that they can just use or modify for their tasks. The modern Android application uses the following mobile tech stack:
Integrated development environment (IDE):
There are some “sandboxes” for development applications in the technology stack for mobile app development. Such “sandbox” is called IDE.
Android Studio
Nowadays, in Android development, developers use Android Studio IDE. This is a modern IDE with different features and tools that can help your application come to its first launch.
Programming language:
There are three primary programming languages for developing Android applications — Java, Kotlin, and Dart.
Java
Java is one of the most popular programming languages for Android apps. Java is in demand among developers due to the versatility of the language and ease of design.
Kotlin
Kotlin is the new language that is used for development in Android. This is fully interoperated with Java, which means you can use Kotlin and Java code in one project. Nowadays, Kotlin is the most preferred language for Android projects and will continue to grow in popularity in 2023.
Dart
Dart is used for the Flutter UI software development kit that Google created for cross-platform development. Flutter is used for developing different apps for Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, macOS, and Google Fuchsia platforms.
HAVE
Android UI tools:
Android provides some ways to create UI for your applications:
Android pre-built tools
Android provides you with standard pre-built UI tools which you can use just to install the Android SDK package. This implies that you create UI using XML files, where you will declare how your application will look. SDK provides many UI classes like Button, TextView, and ConstraintLayout, which XML uses to describe application UI.
Android Jetpack Compose
Jetpack Compose is the new UI library made by Google, which uses the declarative method to build native UI. Unlike the pre-built way used XML, Jetpack Compose can be declared right in the code. To use Compose, you need to add dependencies, enable compose build feature, and describe the Kotlin compiler extension version in your build.gradle file just like described here. After that, you can use Jetpack Compose in your projects.
Material Design
Android pre-built UI tools and Jetpack Compose can cooperate with the Material Design library to use modern designed UI components. Here you can read more about Material Design and how to integrate it into your project.
Given the trend, Android Jetpack Compose has become more popular than XML in native UI building, but standard methods are still popular too. The mobile technology stack in Android includes not only UI tools, of course, but an application also needs network, storage, and dependency injection technologies for more easy management of dependencies in project code. Read about such elements of the mobile app technology stack below.
Jetpack Compose Samples, Open Source Projects, And Examples Are As Follows
Compose Tetris
Summary of this Project: A Tetris game fully built using Jetpack Compose, almost all UI elements are created by code, including the following app icon, which is also generated by Composable with Preview. Other stacks and features used to create this example are MVI architecture, Simulate appearance of LCD screen and more.
Wiggles – Pet Adoption App
Summary: Beautiful Puppy adoption app built to Demonstrate the Jetpack Compose UI for Android Dev Challenge. This project is built with Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, Android Architecture Components , Jetpack Compose Navigation, Material Components for Android and Figma. In this list, this is considered as one of the best android app development projects built using jetpack compose for beginners and advanced developers
Project Summary: This project is still under development. The creator says we need to improve a lot and a lot to add in this app. If you don’t want to build whole app, you can contribute to this project. The app has modern material design, dark mode, multiple account support and more.
WhatsApp using Jetpack Compose
Project Summary: An example project to demonstrate how to build WhatsApp using Jetpack Compose. If you want to get started with Jetpack Compose, then this project is for you. In this project, Common use-cases of Jetpack Compose has been implemented like working with List, Using Coroutines, etc. You’ll also learn how to work with multiple screens in Jetpack Compose.
Note Taking App
About this Project: A Simple Note-Taking App built to demonstrate the use of Modern Android development tools – (Kotlin, Coroutines, State Flow, Hilt-Dependency Injection, Jetpack DataStore, Architecture Components, MVVM, Room, Material Design Components). In this list, this is considered as one of the best android app development projects built using jetpack compose for beginners and advanced developers.
Flux – A Weather App
Summary of this Project: A dummy weather app with a dynamic landscape varying over time using Jetpack Compose. It’s composed of a day / night cycle, multiple layers for the background and a particle generator for rain, snow and clouds. It also draws random lightning when there is a thunderstorm.
Podcast App
Summary: Create your own Android podcast app with Jetpack Compose and ExoPlayer. Using the sample project, you can build an app with modern stacks like Jetpack Compose UI which provides custom animations, transitions, light/dark theme, layouts, dependency injection with Hilt and MVVM Architecture.
Spotiflyer – Multi Platform Music Downloader App
Summary of this Project: Build your own music downloader app using Jetpack Compose and other modern tech stacks. The sample project attached below will help you to create your own music downloader. Currently, the sample project supports Spotify, Gaana, Youtube, Youtube Music, Jio-Saavn and more are coming soon.
McCompose – McDonald’s App
About this Project: In this project, you’re going to build a McDonald’s App with JetPack Compose and other modern tech stacks. For more details, check out the below links.
Delish – A Recipe App using Compose
Summary of this Project: Delish is a Food Recipes App built with Jetpack Compose and Hilt. It is based on modern Android tech-stacks and MVVM clean architecture.
Disney App using Jetpack Compose
Project Summary: A demo Disney app using compose and Hilt based on modern Android tech-stacks and MVVM architecture. The tech stacks and open-source libraries used in creating this project are hilt, flow, coroutines, accompanist, landscapist, orchestra-balloon, sandwich, whatif, timber and more.
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Spelling Bee Game
Summary of this Project: It’s a simple project, suitable for absolute beginners. The game is created using Jetpack Compose and other modern tech stacks. Give it a try or check out more about this project from the below-given link.
Alkaa – Task Manager App
About this Project: Alkaa is a to-do application sample project to study the latest components, architecture and tools for Android development. The project evolved a lot since the beginning and it is available on Google Play. Check out the Codes, Instructions and Demos from the below given link. In this list, this is considered as one of the best android app development projects built using jetpack compose for beginners and advanced developers.
JetInstagram App
Project Summary: JetInstagram is an Instagram UI clone app built with Jetpack Compose. This sample example showcases: home screen, post like button animation, photo like animation, reels, playing video with exoplayer in compose environment. Currently this project is not fully complete as some screens are not yet implemented.
JetCaster App
Summary: Jetcaster is a sample podcast app, built with Jetpack Compose. The goal of the sample is to showcase dynamic theming and full featured architecture. The app is built in a Redux-style, where each UI ‘screen’ has its own ViewModel, which exposes a single StateFlow containing the entire view state.
Pixel Music
About this Project: Create your own music player using compose. Pixel project is a beautiful unofficial NetEase Cloud music player for Android.
Jet Timer
Summary: Timer app clone built with Jetpack Compose and Hilt. The purpose of this project is to try new Android technologies and learn how it works in an app. If you want to learn compose by building a project, check out this from the links given below
JetHub
Summary of this Project: JetHub is a sample app using Github API and Jetpack components. The purpose of this project is to try new Android technologies and learn how it works in an app. If you want to learn compose by building a project, check out this from the links given below
Clock of Clocks
Project Summary: Want to build a clock in your own language in a unique form? If yes, then this project is for you. In this sample project, the author has created clock with Jetpack Compose in Persian language. Check out demo, code and other details from here
Stack using Compose
Summary: Stack is an Android app for browsing Stack Overflow and other Stack Exchange sites. Features added in this app are
- View question and answer details rendered in rich Markdown.
- Bookmark your favorite questions to save for later.
- Answer and vote for questions asked by the Stack Exchange communities.
- Easily switch between Stack Exchange sites to find the community you’re looking for.
- What’s more? Check out demo and codes.
Cookbook App using Compose
About this Project: In this Jetpack Compose project, you’ll learn to use the new declarative UI framework being developed by the Android team by creating a cookbook app. Check out more from here
Pokedex App using Jetpack Compose
Summary: In this project, You will learn about retrofit setup, search bar & list screen, list entries and list view model, pagination and more by creating a pokedex app using jetpack compose. The project is still under development. Learn more about this jetpack compose project from the below given link.
BikeShare
Project Summary: Jetpack Compose and SwiftUI based Kotlin Multiplatform project (using Citybikes API). Note that, due to use of Jetpack Compose, Android Studio Arctic Fox is required to build/run the Android client. The iOS and macOS clients have been tested in latest released version of XCode (currently 12.4).
JetNews App
About this Project: JetNews is a sample news reading app, built with Jetpack Compose. The goal of the sample is to showcase the current UI capabilities of Compose. This sample contains three screens: a list of articles, a detail page for articles, and a page to subscribe to topics of interest.
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