Have you heard of Voyager?

It's a multiplatform navigation library seamlessly integrated with Jetpack Compose.

I've learned some interesting things about it 👇

#kotlin #AndroidDev #JetpackCompose #ios

Yesterday I mentioned that I discovered this library and decided it was the perfect time to try it out

I thought it would be great to share my findings with others

I created an open source starter template with Compose mp and this navigation library

https://twitter.com/louisduboscq/status/1646491393987170306

Voyager is really interesting for Compose mp apps because it allows for shared navigation implementation across all platforms.

It integrates seamlessly with Compose's lifecycle and state management, making it a powerful and efficient solution for multiplatform navigation

To set up Voyager in your app, use the Navigator composable in your MainActivity (or any other activity that uses Jetpack Compose):

To navigate to a new screen using Voyager, call the push method of the Navigator instance.

Here's an example of how to navigate from the HomeScreen to the DetailScreen:

The code above initializes the Navigator with the HomeScreen as the starting screen.

When the user taps the “View details” button, the push method is called to navigate to the DetailScreen.

The LocalNavigator is used to obtain a reference to the current navigator instance.

Voyager provides an easy-to-use navigation stack that supports push, pop, and replace operations...

The lib includes a class called ScreenModel, which is similar to Android's ViewModel but is designed for multiplatform use (not tightly coupled to the Android framework).

ScreenModel can handle configuration changes and manages UI data with the UI lifecycle in mind.

The ScreenModel class includes a coroutineScope property, which is automatically cancelled when the ScreenModel is disposed.

With StateScreenModel's integrated mutableState property, devs don't need to manually define both a public StateFlow and a private mutableStateFlow for the same state.

This eliminates a lot of boilerplate code.

Voyager has good integration with Koin.

To define a Koin module for a screen model, you can use the factory method (Koin) and provide a lambda that returns an instance of the screen model :

After defining the Koin module for a screen model, you can inject the screen model in your screen using the getScreenModel() function from the Koin Voyager library :

Why you will love it?

• Easy stack api
• Reduces code duplication
• Seamless integration with Compose
• ScreenModel class for multiplatform state management
• Integrates well with popular Kotlin tools like Koin and Coroutines
• 1k stars on Github

Finally i sumed up this into a blog post , feel free to share

https://appkickstarter.com/blog/multiplatform-navigation-with-voyager

Star the open source repository to use it later :

https://github.com/AppKickstarter/KMPStarterOS

If you found this interesting, then you'll love my upcoming content where I'll be sharing more tips and tricks for mobile development.

If you want to help others in the mobile dev community, feel free to share this information with your friends.

Discovering the Voyager Navigation Library for Jetpack Compose

You always wanted to make your own server as an Android Kotlin developer?

Here are some small things to know to kickstart your first Ktor app.

First of all, what is Ktor.

It is a straightforward and very powerful tool to build asynchronous clients and servers apps with Kotlin and coroutines. 

It's fun, like many things with Kotlin. And it's built and backed by JetBrains. 

One of the options to start a Ktor project is via start.ktor.io


Define the app name, package name, ktor version, the engine used and what plugins you need.

For a simple backend which stores datas and provides apis you need these plugins : 

- Content negotiation and serialization for transforming data transfer object (data class) into json
- Routing for communicating from the outside with your Ktor application 

Here is the basic setup for a newly created app

You'll find

- The main entry point (function main)
- The engine used (here Netty), address and port
- Serialization and routing configs

You need to declare all your DTO (data transfer objects) accompanied by their serialized annotation

In the configureRouting method you need to register the routes

We'll see different kind of routes. You'll learn how to respond, get and check url params, get a post body. 

Here is a very simple route that returns a list of objects

Here is a get route that get params in url, check param and may returns either errors (bad request / not found) or the actual object

call.parameters["param"] gets the param passed in the call

Post route with a body

call.receive waits the exact json body with all the customer properties i.e id, firstName, lastName and email.

Later, you will want authentication

A simple way is to separate public calls from private calls wrapping routes with authenticate lambda

That way if you don't provide the token bearer in headers, the authenticate routes will automatically return 401, "Unauthorized"

Finally, I advise you to build your apis using Insomnia

It's a great tool to create, test, maintain and document your APIs.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/louisduboscq/nICnlLZLMxsJ

Kickstart your very first Ktor application

If you don't have a vision for your future, you will gradually become a slave to your business.

Weekend project :

I built a little app with jetpack compose

Write first edit later, only worry about getting your thoughts on the page 

8 useful tips to pass a developer interview :

1. Learn about the company.

Find out about the company you are applying to. What are its activities? What's the business? What are the techs, etc.

I had an interview some time ago and from the beginning, I was asked questions about the company. 

If I hadn't been able to answer it, I would have failed at the start of the recruitment process.

2. Inform if you are late

If you are up to 10 minutes late, notify as soon as possible by any means. Call the person you need to meet directly if you can.

If you're more than 10 minutes late try to show up anyway and don't give up. Apologize and ask how much time the person has to give you.

3. Prepare questions

You will be asked if you have any questions. 

If you have nothing to say, it may send the wrong message. 

That you aren't particularly interested.

You want to look interested. So be prepared.

4 Have a pencil and paper

It does school, yes. 

But it also shows that you it's important for you. 

Take notes of what seems relevant to you.

5. Be positive

The recruiter will probably ask you if you have done "this thing" before.

We can't know and master everything.

If you don't know what the recruiter is talking about, anchor your answer in the positive.

For example, answer: "I do not know but I have heard about it and it interests me" is more reassuring for the recruiter than to say "never done."

6. Talk about yourself and not about your former colleagues

You have surely done some great projects with great teams in great companies.

The thing is, this is your interview. 

Everyone is aware that if there are 10 of you on a project then you haven't done everything.

Talk about yourself, your experience, what you have done, your successes, failures, etc.

7. Illustrate your words

If you are asked about qualities, for example, it is best to illustrate them rather than enumerate a list.

Give concrete examples of experience or show the connection to the current position.

8. Show interest for the job

Be curious and show that you are interested in the products, the business and the working methods.

For example, if it is an open source IT project and the development method is pair programming, show that you are interested in this.

That's all. 

There are surely other tips and soft skills that are super important for interviewing but here is my list that I try to remember when I have to do one.

I didn't learn that in school, I learned by doing. Maybe it can be useful for others.

Do you have any other tips to pass a developer interview?

Takeaways:

1. Learn about the company
2. Inform if you are late
3. Prepare questions
4. Pencil, paper, take notes
5. Be positive
6. Talk about yourself and not about your former colleagues
7. Illustrate your words
8. Show interest in the position

Pass a developer interview

Investing in yourself is like

Investing in a stock that can only go up.

A lot of people are talented but never find success. If you don't add a bit of courage and risk, your talent is useless.

2021

💼 After having refused several job offers I accepted one because I liked the project and the technical stack

👨‍🍼I had my second child

🥵 I came close to burnout because of this new job

🚪I quit my job after ~11months

💰 I made my first money as freelance

2022

I want to be able to take days off without asking anyone

I want to spend more time with friends and family

I want to spend more time on things I enjoy

2021-2022

Instead of using a custom grid with a fixed number of columns, you can use a FlowRow. 

The children layouts will go on a next row if there is no more space.

It allows you to have a more flexible UI that adapts to your content.

#JetpackCompose

Automatically set the version number via the number of commits in the git repository. 

This is the first time I see this. 

What do you think?

#AndroidDev 