Preface

Thanks!

Thanks for your interest in Android app development, the world’s most popular operating system! And, thanks for your interest in the Android Architecture Components, released by Google in 2017 to help address common “big-ticket” problems in Android app development.

And, most of all, thanks for your interest in this book! I sincerely hope you find it useful!

(OTOH, if you find it completely useless… um, don’t tell anyone, OK?)

First-Generation Book

Android app development can be divided into two generations:

• First-generation app development uses Java as the programming language and leverages the Android Support Library and the android.arch edition of the Architecture Components
• Second-generation app development more often uses Kotlin as the programming language and leverages AndroidX and the rest of Jetpack (which includes an AndroidX edition of the Architecture Components)

This book is a first-generation book. It explores the android.arch edition of the Architecture Components and it uses Java for most of the examples.

Second-generation material can be found in CommonsWare’s “Elements” book series. Of particular note, some introductory Architecture Components material can be found in Elements of Android Jetpack.