Google launches alpha release of Jetpack Compose to speed Android coding – SiliconANGLE

Google LLC today launched the alpha release of Jetpack Compose, a development tool it has built to speed up the creation of Android apps.

The search giant debuted an early preview version of Jetpack Compose last October. Its aimed at speeding up Android development by streamlining the process of creating an apps user interface, a time-consuming task that historically required writing a lot of custom code.

Android developers have traditionally had to write UI elements with the XML markup language. The use of XML adds complexity to projects because an Android apps core features have to be written in an altogether different language,with one of the consequences being that developers have towrite a great deal of so-called boilerplate code. Jetpack Compose reduces the amount of boilerplate code required for an app by removing the need to use XML, instead allowing developers to write both an apps core features and UI in a single language.

That language is Kotlin, which Google last year named as the preferred programming technology for Android.

Jetpack Compose also eases UI development in other ways, for instance by reducing how much code developers must write to handle interface changes. If a user of an e-commerce app takes out an item from their shopping cart, the app needs to refresh to reflect that change. Interface elements written in Jetpack Compose can apply such updates with considerably less code than XML-based implementations.

The tools upgrade to alpha status today was accompanied by the introduction of several new enhancements. Many ofthemare intended to jumpstart adoption of Jetpack Compose in the development community by making it more accessible.

The first way Google hopes to boost adoption is by making it easier for developers to use the tool with existing Android apps. According to the search giant, interface elements created with the tool can now be embedded into an Android app originally created with XML. For Google, thats an important step toward getting Jetpack Compose adopted in the most popular apps on the Play Store, most of which werent originally created with the tool.

The search giant is also integrating Jetpack Compose more deeply into Android Studio, the desktop-based toolkit Android developers use to build apps. A programmer can now write the code for an interface element in Android Studios editor and view an interactive preview of the element in an adjacent tab. The preview automatically refreshes when the underlying code changes.

Internally createdUI development tools such as Jetpack Compose and Flutter, whichGoogle also upgraded recently, are a big part of the search giants developer strategy. The easier the companymakes it to build Android apps, thefaster developers can bring new ideas to market.

Show your support for our mission with our one-click subscription to our YouTube channel (below). The more subscribers we have, the more YouTube will suggest relevant enterprise and emerging technology content to you. Thanks!

Support our mission: >>>>>> SUBSCRIBE NOW >>>>>> to our YouTube channel.

Wed also like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we dont have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary onSiliconANGLE along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams attheCUBE take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.

If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here,please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors,tweet your support, and keep coming back toSiliconANGLE.

Read the original post:
Google launches alpha release of Jetpack Compose to speed Android coding - SiliconANGLE