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Android developers: your programming environment suuuuuuuucks. Hundreds of lines of code to get simple things working that take less than 10 lines on the Web. You don't have to live this way.
This entry was edited (1 month ago)
in reply to Evan Prodromou

I have to do an Android project for my Software Engineering class because of course real software engineers use Java, and it is such a slog.
in reply to Evan Prodromou

Android development is the most brutal learning curve I have encountered so far when it comes to programming. I've started two Android apps and finished neither. The verbosity of the necessary boilerplate is very, um, impressive. But I blame Android SDK far more than I do Java. Writing a GUI app for a PC in Java is sheer simplicity compared to writing an Android app in any language.

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in reply to Evan Prodromou

where are you taking classes? I'm on the Kotlin Foundation, Kotlin has been the official language for writing Android apps since 2017. Our Education Committee will want to help modernize the course.
in reply to Evan Prodromou

Some colleges use Kotlin in data structures and algorithms courses and other general software engineering courses, too. So still something we'd want to advocate for. It is a JVM language and can compile to other platforms, just most well-known for Android development so far
in reply to Evan Prodromou

Kotlin with Compose is better, but overall it's still a juggernaut environment.
in reply to Evan Prodromou

As annoying as the web can be (javascript in particular), the fact that 10 lines *literally* can give you a UI and functionality is incredible.
in reply to Victor Frunza 🇨🇦

@vfrunza I cannot believe sometimes the acres of boilerplate code developers are willing to put up with.

One benefit with needing your entire codebase to download over the internet in under a second is that you don't have a lot of tolerance for extraneous bullshit.

in reply to Evan Prodromou

I don’t know if it’s a matter of putting up with. Often you just have to maintain a project, and you get what you get unfortunately.

It’s promising that even in large organizations I’ve worked in where software isn’t the main goal, new projects are being started with much more usable technology.

in reply to Evan Prodromou

considering its 2025 for most devs / teams it is more likely 10 LOC and 5MB partially maintained dependencies with a few known vulnerabilities…
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