Editorial

Hey everyone,

objc.io goes Android.

Admittedly, this started out as an April Fools' joke. But we quickly realized that we actually could make a really good issue about this. After all, it's interesting to Objective-C developers to learn something about what development on the other major mobile platform is like, as well as what we can learn from it.

Since we have been very busy last month finishing one of our own projects, we were delighted to see that many great Android developers were willing to chip in and fill this issue with their knowledge of the Android platform.

We tried to cover all the important differences. To get an overview, you can read Stephen's Android 101, which shows differences in the application structure on a high level. One of the things that's really cool about Android is Intents, and Martin shows us how they can be used to structure your application and communicate between applications. Because Android has a plethora of varied devices, developers also need to deal with lots of different screen sizes. Chris tells us all about how to write responsive apps on Android.

On Android, there's no such thing as Core Data. People who like working with SQL will be pleased to read James's article on Android's database support. He shows us how to work with the built-in libraries and details which third-party libraries are available. Then Kevin tells us about notifications on Android, which can do a lot more than their iOS counterparts. Finally, Bill tells us about dependency injection in Java, which is, of course, just as useful for iOS projects. It's also a great technique to make your objects easier to test, as well as to increase reusability.

Have a great April,

Chris, Daniel, and Florian.