Hello, community! I’m Anna, and I have been professionally engaged in Android Development for three years. In this article, I’d like to tell you in detail about Android Studio - a powerful tool for creating Android apps. Android Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for working with the Android platform, announced on May 16, 2013, at the Google I/O conference.
Android Studio can be installed on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It was built on top of IntelliJ IDEA.
The IDE is free to download and use. You can download Android Studio by this link. To properly set up this program, follow these guidelines. After you have successfully installed and configured android studio, you can watch a few tutorials on working with this tool. This can make it much easier for you to get started in Android Studio.
Android Studio has layouts for creating the UI, which is where you usually start working on an application. It contains tools for developing solutions for smartphones and tablets, as well as new technology solutions for Android TV, Android Wear, Android Auto, Glass, and additional contextual modules. New features come with every new version of Android Studio.
In Android Studio you can write, test, and run your code. You can also create and customize an emulator and use them instead of real devices to run your Android apps. The first thing that needs to be said is every Junior Android Developer should master the work in Android Studio and use all the main features of this powerful and useful tool.
One should note here that even though Android Studio is a complex tool, including many features, there are several useful lifehacks that will greatly simplify the work in this IDE. When I started actively use these lifehacks during my working days, the quality and speed of my work increased significantly. I have compiled a list of these lifehacks and I’m happy to share them for you.
Lifehack 1 - Don’t neglect Android Studio’s tips of the day.
The first thing that needs to be said is Android Studio creators made sure not only that all developers can comfortably work in this IDE with high performance, but also that they have the opportunity to how to write code better.
Therefore, every day when you open Android Studio for the first time, you will see a tip of the day window. This is a small window in the middle of your screen that contains useful tips on how to organize your work with Android Studio. Some developers prefer to just close this window, but I strongly recommend that you don't be lazy and spend 5-10 minutes of your time per day reading these tips. Perhaps it will be very useful to you. As for me personally, when I acquired the useful habit of always reading the tip of the day, my work speed increased. In addition, some of my colleagues also appreciated the benefits of these small daily Android Studio tips.
Tip of the day’s window looks like this:
If you want to see more tips, click “Next Tip“, otherwise just close the window.
Lifehack 2 – Learn and actively use Android Studio hotkeys.
Another lifehack that can significantly speed up and simplify your work on code in Android Studio is hotkeys. I strongly recommend that you master the basic hotkeys of Android Studio and use them daily. As for me personally, I often use the following Android Studio hotkeys during my work:
- Control+F9 / Command+F9 on macOS- Build
- Shift+F10 / Control+R on macOS - Build and run
- Control+Alt+L / Command+Option+L on macOS - Reformat code
- Control+Alt+O / Control+Option+O on macOS - Optimize imports
- Control+S / Command+S on macOS - Save all
- Control+Alt+Y / Command+Option+Y on macOS - Synchronize
- Control+F / Command+F on macOS - Find in file/class
- Control+Shift+N / Command+Shift+O on macOS - Find in project
- Shift+F4 / Shift+F4 on macOS - Open current editor tab in new window
- Control+G / Command+L on macOS - Go to line
- Control+R / Command+R on macOS on macOS - Replace
- Control+Shift+F / Command+Shift+F on macOS - Find in path
- Control+B / Command+B on macOS - Go to XML
- Control+K / Command+K on macOS - Commit project to VCS
- Control+T / Command+T on macOS - Update project from VCS
- Alt+Shift+C / Option+Shift+C on macOS - View recent changes
- Alt+Insert / Command+N on macOS - generate code
- Control+Alt+M / Command+Option+M on macOS - Extract method
- Control+Alt+V / Command+Option+V on macOS - Extract variable
- Control+Alt+F / Command+Option+F on macOS - Extract field
- Control+Alt+C / Command+Option+C on macOS - Extract constant
- Control+Alt+P / Command+Option+P on macOS - Extract parameter
As for me personally, the mentioned Android Studio hotkeys are quite enough. Based on my experience, I can assume that these combinations may be enough for the daily work of a Android developer. Perhaps you will also make a list of your favorite hotkeys over time. Android Studio hotkeys full list includes hotkeys for writing code, debug, version control, navigation, view layouts, refactoring etc. If you want to study all Android Studio hotkeys in more detail, you can always see their full list in the official documentation by this link.
Lifehack 3 - Choose the Android Studio theme that suits you best.
This tip may seem trivial, but it is useful and can make your work in android studio more comfortable. Unfortunately, I did not immediately pay attention to this fact and for a long time I worked in Android Studio using a white theme. I quickly got tired and did not feel satisfaction from my work. After I changed the theme to dark, my work became more comfortable and productive. But of course, you can choose the theme that is most comfortable for you. In fact, I would advise you to set up Android Studio at the very beginning of working so that you can work with this tool as comfortably as possible.
To set up your favorite Android Studio theme go to File tab and click on Settings. Further, you can find Theme under the Appearance & Behaviour -> Appearance. Choose your theme from the drop-down list and click on Apply and Ok. Done!
There are several ways to change theme in Android Studio. More detailed information you can find by this link.
Lifehack 4 - Use Key Promoter X plugin.
Above, I have listed only a small part of the hotkeys that can be used while working in Android Studio. It may seem to you that there are too many of them and it is unrealistic to remember all these key combinations. There is a great solution - use Key Promoter X.
Key Promoter X is a plugin that allows you to learn hotkeys gradually, step by step. When you utilize the mouse on a button inside the IDE, the Key Promoter X presents the keyboard hotkeys that can be used instead. And if there is no hotkey for this action, it will advise you to start it.
To install this plugin, just find it in the following path: Preferences → Plugins → Marketplace. Type Key Promoter X in search field. Download the plugin and restart the Android Studio. Done!
Lifehack 5 - Use Rainbow Brackets plugin.
Brackets are used to group a number of code statements. For you it can becomes hard when you can't find the block of code that you want. Rainbow Brackets provide rainbow colors to the brackets which will eventually help you to keep track of code blocks better.
To use rainbow brackets in your code, just go to Settings -> Plugins -> Install Rainbow Brackets.
Perhaps some of these lifehacks are already familiar to you, and some you will hear for the first time. In any case, I sincerely hope that this article will be helpful to Junior Android Developers who are in the early stage of their career. You can also write in the comments to the article what life hacks you already use to work with Android Studio.
And if you are just thinking about starting your career in Android development, I advise you to read my article on how to become an Android developer from scratch in 2023. Good luck!
