What is Jetpack Compose and how does it work in Android Studio?
What is Jetpack Compose and how does it work in Android Studio?
Jetpack Compose is a modern UI toolkit for Android that simplifies UI development. With the Kotlin programming language, you can construct reactive programming models that are concise and easy to use. It is fully declarative, so you can describe your UI through a series of functions that will transform your data into UI hierarchy. The framework automatically recalls these functions when the data changes or is updated and updates the view accordingly.
With Jetpack Compose, you can build your app quickly and easily with less code, powerful tools, and intuitive Kotlin APIs.
How does Jetpack Compose help you?
Less line of codes: Writing code in one file in the app prevents us from having to go back and forth between XML files. With XML files, we would have needed a layout for the image view, an image title, and a code linked to the Viewholder in the data adapter class. As a result of this implementation, there would be two or more classes and layouts. Using Compose, however, we were able to easily link these components. The surface layout was used as well as the row and column boxes. There were fewer errors when it came to correcting bugs.
Declarative: It is 100% declarative so you can call predefined functions to describe what your UI components should do.
Accelerate development: Compose is compatible with all your existing code: Compose code can be called from Views, and Views can be called from Compose. You can start using Compose when and where you want, since it works with most common libraries like Navigation, ViewModel, and Kotlin coroutines.
Intuitive: Compose uses a declarative API, so you must describe your UI - it takes care of the rest for you. APIs are intuitive and easy to use. Compose allows you to build stateless components that are not tied to any specific activity or fragment. As a result, they can be reused and tested easily.
How to use Android Studio with Jetpack Compose?
Prerequisites: Download and install Android Studio if you wish to develop with Jetpack Compose. Many smart editor features are included, including new project templates and instant previews of your Compose UI and animations.
After you've installed Android Studio, follow the instructions below to try a Jetpack Compose sample app, create a new Jetpack Compose app project, or add support for Jetpack Compose to an existing app project.
Tip! By importing sample projects into Android Studio, you can test out sample apps from GitHub before creating your own app using Jetpack compose.
Create a new app with support for Jetpack Compose With Android Studio, you can create new projects that include Jetpack Compose support by default. Follow these steps to create a new project that includes Jetpack Compose:
In the Welcome to Android Studio window, click Start a new Android Studio project. From the menu bar, choose File > New > New Project if you already have an Android Studio project open.
In the Select a Project Template window, select Empty Compose Activity and click Next.
Do the following in the Configure your project window:
The Name, Package Name, and Save location should be set as normal.
Due to Jetpack Compose's reliance on Kotlin classes, Kotlin is the only available language in the Language dropdown menu.
Select API level 21 or higher from the Minimum API level dropdown menu.
Click Finish.
Verify that the project's build.gradle file is configured correctly.