Android vs iOS: A 100% fully serious comparison by Jie Li and Sam Jarman

A lot of us like to argue about the merits of iOS vs Android, but after a few years in both, Sam and Jie thought they’re more alike than a lot of people think. In this talk, they’ll walk you through some key concepts of both, pointing out the good parts and the bad parts, but really showing you how similar they are.

This comparison is fully serious, and all information will be presented in a completely unbiased and stern way with no smiles on faces. We’ll cover everything from Xcode/Android Studio through to Networking libraries, data storage and unit testing.

Transcript

1. Android and iOS: A 100% fully serious comparison by Jie Li and Sam Jarman 100% 100% 50%
2. Android dev: an intro ...for iOS devs
3. iOS dev: an intro …for Android devs
4. IDEs Where do we put our code?
5. XCode https://developer.apple.com/xcode/
6. XCode
7. XCode
8. Android Studio https://developer.android.com/studio/
9. Android Studio
10. Android Studio
11. Programming Language What do we code in?
12. var myVariable = 42 myVariable = 50 val myConstant = 42 let explicitDouble: Double = 70 Swift Kotlin var myVariable = 42 myVariable = 50 let myConstant = 42 let explicitDouble: Double = 70.0
13. class Shape { var numberOfSides = 0 fun simpleDescription(): String { return "A shape with $numberOfSides sides." } } Swift Kotlin class Shape { var numberOfSides = 0 func simpleDescription() -> String { return "A shape with \(numberOfSides) sides." } }
14. val shoppingList = arrayOf("catfish", "water", "tulips", "blue paint") shoppingList[1] = "bottle of water" Swift Kotlin var shoppingList = ["catfish", "water", "tulips", "blue paint"] shoppingList[1] = "bottle of water"
15. Screens How do we make them?
16. Activities/Fragments 1 screen = 1 Activity or 1 Fragment
17. Fragments 1 screen = 3 Fragments
18. ViewControllers 1 Screen = 1 View Controller
19. ViewControllers 1 Screen = 3 View Controllers
20. Layouts How do views all fit together?
21. AutoLayout and interface builder
22. ConstraintLayout
23. Lists of Data How do we present those?
24. ListView/RecyclerView
25. UITableView/UICollectionView
26. Dependencies How do we manage these?
27. Dependency Management - CocoaPods
28. Dependency Management - Carthage
29. Dependency Management - SPM
30. Dependency management - Gradle
31. Dependency management - Ant???
32. Networking How can our apps talk to the internet?
33. Networking - Retrofit public interface GitHubService { @GET("users/{user}/repos" ) Call<List<Repo>> listRepos(@Path("user") String user); } Retrofit retrofit = new Retrofit.Builder() .baseUrl("https://api.github.com/ ") .build(); GitHubService service = retrofit.create(GitHubService.class); Call<List<Repo>> repos = service.listRepos("jie"); call.enqueue(new Callback<List<Repo>>() {...})
34. Networking let urlString = URL(string: "http://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/1") if let url = urlString { let task = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: url) { (data, response, error) in if error != nil { print(error) } else { if let usableData = data { print(usableData) //JSONSerialization } } } task.resume()
36. Simple Data Storage How can we save light weight data such as preferences, high scores or settings
37. UserDefaults let myData = 5.4 UserDefaults.standard.set(myData, forKey: "myData") // Another point in your app let myDataOut = UserDefaults.standard.float(forKey: "myData") print(myDataOut) // 5.4
38. SharedPreferences
39. SharedPreferences val sharedPref = activity?.getPreferences(Context.MODE_PRIVATE) with (sharedPref.edit()) { putInt(getString(“myKey”), newHighScore) commit() } val highScore = sharedPref.getInt(getString(“myKey”), defaultValue)
40. Big Data How can we store large amounts of complex data?
41. SQLite/Room
42. Room @Entity public class User { @PrimaryKey private int uid; @ColumnInfo(name = "first_name") private String firstName; } @Dao public interface UserDao { @Query("SELECT * FROM user") List<User> getAll(); @Insert void insertAll(User... users); } @Database(entities = {User.class}, version = 1) public abstract class AppDatabase extends RoomDatabase { public abstract UserDao userDao(); }
43. SQL Lite • Too hard • Move on
44. Realm
45. Signals How can our apps react to various signals?
46. NSNotificationCenter
47. NSNotificationCenter - Posting NotificationCenter.default.post(name: NSNotification.Name(rawValue: "Listen to me!"), object: self, userInfo: ["data":"some string"])
48. NSNotificationCenter - Receiving NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(listen), name: NSNotification.Name(rawValue: "Listen to me!"), object: nil) @objc func listen(notif: NSNotification) { // do things with notif.userInfo }
49. Broadcasts - sending Intent intent = new Intent(); intent.setAction("com.example.broadcast.MY_NOTIFICATION"); intent.putExtra("data","Hello!"); sendBroadcast(intent);
50. Broadcasts - receiving <receiver android:name=".MyBroadcastReceiver" android:exported="true"> <intent-filter> <action android:name="com.example.broadcast.MY_NOTIFICATION"/> </intent-filter> </receiver> IntentFilter filter = new IntentFilter("com.example.broadcast.MY_NOTIFICATION"); filter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_AIRPLANE_MODE_CHANGED); this.registerReceiver(myBroadcastReceiver, filter); public class MyBroadcastReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver { @Override public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) { ... } }
51. Unit testing How can we ensure the correctness of our code?
52. @Test fun testAdder() { // Setup val a = 10 val b = 15 // Run val result = Adder.add(a, b) // Verify assertEquals(result, 15) } Unit Testing - XCTest Unit Testing - JUnit func testAdder() { // Setup let a = 10 let b = 15 // Run let result = Adder.add(a, b) // Verify XCTAssertEqual(result, 15) }
53. java.lang.RuntimeException: Method startActivity in android.app.Activity not mocked. See http://g.co/androidstudio/not-mocked for details. func testLogin() { // Mock Activity } Unit Testing - JUnit func testLogin() { // Mock server // Mock Disk // Mock user defaults // Instantiate controller properly // Give up? } java.lang.RuntimeException: Method makeText in android.widget.Toast not mocked. See http://g.co/androidstudio/not-mocked for details. func testLogin() { // Mock Activity // Mock Toast } Unit Testing - XCTest
54. Architecture How can we structure our code into sensible units?
55. Architectural Patterns MVP MVVM VIPER MVC Old: New: The crossfit of architectures:
56. Architectural Patterns - MVVM MVVM MVP Current: Old, but still valid:
57. UI Testing How can we ensure the correctness of our interfaces?
58. UI Testing - XCUITest let accountSuccessfullyCreatedMessage = self.app.staticTexts["Account successfully created!"] let exists = NSPredicate(format: "exists == true") expectation(for: exists, evaluatedWithObject: accountSuccessfullyCreatedMessage, handler: nil) app.buttons["Create Button"].tap() waitForExpectations(timeout: 10, handler: nil) XCTAssert(accountSuccessfullyCreatedMessage.exists) XCTAssert(accountSuccessfullyCreatedMessage.label, "Account successfully created!")
59. UITesting - AndroidJUnitRunner / Espresso @Test fun testClickMyView() { onView(withId(R.id.my_view)) // withId(R.id.my_view) is a ViewMatcher .perform(click()) // click() is a ViewAction .check(matches(isDisplayed())); // matches(isDisplayed()) is a ViewAssertion} } } @RunWith(AndroidJUnit4::class) class SimpleIntentTest { @Rule var mIntentsRule: ActivityTestRule<MainActivity> = ActivityTestRule(MainActivity::class.java)
60. Jetpack
61. Dependency Injection OK, I actually want to make my app testable - what can I do?
62. Dependency Injection class Foo { private let myDependency: MyDependency init(dep: MyDependency = MyDependency()) { self.myDependency = dep } func doThing() { myDependency.doOtherThing() } } // Testing Foo let mockDep = MyMockDependencyWhichIsASubclassOfMyDependency() let f = Foo(dep: mockDep) f.doThing()
63. Dependency Injection SwinJect
64. Dependency Injection (Magic)
65. Dependency Injection - Dagger @Module class DripCoffeeModule { @Provides static Heater provideHeater() { return new ElectricHeater(); } @Provides static Pump providePump(Thermosiphon pump) { return pump; } } @Component(modules = DripCoffeeModule.class) interface CoffeeShop { CoffeeMaker maker(); } CoffeeShop coffeeShop = DaggerCoffeeShop.builder() .dripCoffeeModule(new DripCoffeeModule()) .build(); class Thermosiphon implements Pump { private final Heater heater; @Inject Thermosiphon(Heater heater) { this.heater = heater; } ... } class CoffeeMaker { @Inject Heater heater; @Inject Pump pump; ... }
66. Just use singletons... Dependency Injection Dependency Injection Just use singletons...
67. Application Properties How can we declare what our app is and what it does?
68. Info.plist
69. App.entitlements (Capabilities)
70. Manifest file CALENDAR CALL_LOG CAMERA CONTACTS LOCATION MICROPHONE PHONE SENSORS SMS STORAGE
71. Multiple Outputs How can we generate multiple outputs from a single codebase?
72. Build Targets
73. Flavours/Build-Types apply plugin: 'com.android.application' android { buildTypes { release { minifyEnabled true proguardFiles ... } debug { minifyEnabled false } } productFlavors { cinnamon { applicationIdSuffix ".cinnamon" versionNameSuffix "-cinnamon" } vanilla { applicationIdSuffix ".vanilla" versionNameSuffix "-vanilla" } } }
74. Code Signing How can we prove to the Apple and Google that it’s our code?
75. Code Signing
76. Code Signing
77. Code Signing
78. App signing
79. Keystores
80. Stores How do we distribute our apps to the consumer market?
81. The App Store 1. Archive code 2. Upload to store 3. Fill in details 4. Submit for review 5. Pray to Tim Cook for no rejection
82. The App Store
83. The Google Play store • Build/Sign • Upload • Fill in details • Publish
84. The Google Play store
85. Crashes and Analytics How can we monitor our apps usage and issues once in the store?
86. Crash Reporting and Analytics Crash Reporting and Analytics
87. Future Updates How can we keep up with new OS versions?
88. Support Libraries & Jetpack
89. Up your app version
90. Open Source?
91. Lol. @available? if #available(iOS 9.0, *) { print("iOS 9.0 and greater") let (contact, imageData) = PersonPopulator.generateContactInfo() profileImageView.image = UIImage(data: imageData) titleLabel.text = contact.jobTitle nameLabel.text = "\(contact.givenName) \(contact.familyName)" } else { print("Get a new phone, m8!) }
92. Final Thoughts What’s this talk really about?
93. Is it okay to bash one platform if you’re used to the other? No
94. Are iOS and Android pretty darn similar? Yes
95. Is it okay to have a preference? Yes
96. Is it okay to have a speciality? Yes
97. Will you be a better mobile developer by knowing some of the other platform? Yes
98. Where can you build awesome mobile apps in NZ? Many places. Including BNZ
99. I have a correction for you! I’m sure you do, let’s chat later.
100. One More Thing...
101. Notch Buddies No headphone jack The hardware looks the same too...
102. Jie Li @jieqiangli Thank you! Thank you Sam Jarman @samjarman samjarman.co.nz