Know Your Meme 🤣
Welcomes & Hellos! 🫂
Hello and hello again, everyone 👋! How are you all? We hope that you are safe and sound despite the reenactment of The Noah Floods 🌊. We are not referring to this Noah but you get the idea 🤷♂️. Without wasting any time, here is a recap of what happened this month within the Android254 and Kotlin Kenya communities. This is Episode #18 of The Kotlin Kenya Newsletter:
The April Challenge
Do you love a good Linked List Manipulation Session? Are you a DSA guru who drools over reversing, recursing, and linking Linked Lists? 🥵 Whether you are or not, The Chief Senior Dishwasher unveiled The April Challenge. It featured Recursion 🌀 as the concept of choice to make the Test Cases pass. Let us do this one more time: Would you like to win some merch by JetBrains? If so, then be ready to fire up The Kotlin Playground and solve The April Challenge when it drops at KotlinBits.
Exploring Canvas in Jetpack Compose for Better UI Experiences 🎨
The Hutsy Developer made good use of an ice breaker (if you know you know) ⛏️ to introduce his session on working with Canvas in Jetpack Compose. Like the Tech Bro that he is, Josphat Mwania used the Audi logo to demonstrate how to work with Canvas in Jetpack Compose using the Canvas API. Josphat concluded his session by challenging the audience to apply what they learnt to draw either the Instagram logo or the Facebook logo. The Senior Teaman took up the challenge and submitted this solution.
Exploring Mobile Release Management: Strategies & Best Practices 📊
If you hate complex release processes when it comes to Mobile Releases, then you no doubt need to check out The State Machinist's presentation on the different strategies and best practices of Mobile Release Management. He extensively talked about Release Management, The Challenges of Mobile Release Management, and The Solutions too. To learn more, check out his presentation. 📈
Configuring WorkManager: Running Tasks in The Background 🔧
Finally, we were served (pun intended but keep reading even if you do not understand) with a taste of Background Process Scheduling using WorkManager by Joel Muraguri. He used a simple Reminder app to demonstrate the steps needed to implement WorkManager in Android to schedule 🗓️ background tasks.
Food for Thought 💡
Do you think WorkManager will work when a user toggles "Background Processes" off on his/her app settings? ⚙️ Why?
If you schedule a task, say 10 minutes ⏲️ from now, do you think it will be executed if the app is not in the foreground when the time comes for the task to be executed? Why?
Why do you think WorkManager and AlarmManager are different in The Android SDK? 🧰
DroidCon Kenya 2024 🎫
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You are going to have to grab some powder as these announcements deserve an applaud 👏 from you. Without wasting any time, here is a rundown of everything you need to know about DroidCon Kenya 2024:
- DroidCon Kenya 2024 will be happening from the 6th to the 8th of NOvember 2024...
- FlutterCon Kenya 2024 will be hosted alongside DroidCon Kenya 2024 as we believe in equality across Mobile frameworks (except Javascript frameworks)...
- The DroidCon Kenya Android App is open for contribution so if you want to be featured in The Contribution Hall of Fame then better get your hands dirty and contribute!
Hello From Congo 🇨🇬
The April Meetup did not just host The State Machinist as the only guest. All the way from Congo, we had Yves Kalume, GDE come say hello and tour this lovely region of ours. The duo 👥 appreciated the level of engagement witnessed to the audience and commended them for their passion and contributions to the community.
The Community Showcase 💪
1. Chronos
Thanks to Felix Biego, you can now keep your smartwatch synced and never miss a notification 🛎️ on your wrist. Discover the fascinating development journey behind Chronos, the revolutionary smartwatch companion app that redefines your health and fitness experience.
2. Soka
Football ⚽ fans have not been left behind as we are proud to feature Soka, an Android app that works out your game predictions coupled with the following features:
- Live Scores
- Match Details
- Videos & Highlights
- Match Stats
The app is built by The Choxx so please thank him whether your predicitions go through or not.
3. Measure Code Execution Time in Kotlin
Have you always wondered what Android Interviews look like? If you thought that this is another iteration of DSA then brace yourself. Why? Valentine Rutto recalled an Android Interview where she was tasked with writing a function that predicts flooding given amount of rain and area in square meters and finally measure its code execution time. ⏱️ Check out her Medium article to learn how you could approach such a use case instead of fumbling and collapsing during the interview.
4. Mastering Kotlin for Android 14: Build powerful Android apps from scratch using Jetpack libraries and Jetpack Compose
Do you remember when we asked you to pre-order His Expertness's book in preparation for your mastery in Android Development, the Jetpack Compose way? Get your credit/debit card ready as the book is finally out! Yes, Mastering Kotlin for Android 14: Build powerful Android apps from scratch using Jetpack libraries and Jetpack Compose is finally out and we urge you to make the purchase as soon as you read this. Seriously though, what better way is there for learning and mastering Android other than from a Googe Developer Expert (GDE)? Hurry up, then! Order the book 🛒, master your skills 🧠, apply them in finding and solving problems 🧩, get paid 💰, and purchase your German Machine 🏎️ sooner than later.
Until May 🫂
It is at this point that we acknowledge our new beginnings and pledge to have a transformative 2024. We have journeyed, will still journey with you and gears are about to be shifted (tech bros please calm down) in your favour. If you would like to level up your career in Android, then attending our Monthly Meetups, building cool stuff in public, and interacting with our members should be a part of your routine. We cannot wait to hear and share your stories. See you in May! 👋
