Alexandru Dumbravan is the author of How to Build Android Apps with Kotlin we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Alexandru: A few years back I was approached by Packt to write the first edition of How to Build Android Apps with Kotlin which represented an opportunity. A lot had changed since the first edition so when the opportunity to write this edition came I was keener because it meant that we were able to write about new developments in the Android ecosystem.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Alexandru: How to Build Android Apps with Kotlin: A practical guide to developing, testing, and publishing your first Android apps, 2nd Edition
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Alexandru: The research was mainly focused on the areas of the book that required updates. How much of the newer technologies should be covered and how much emphasis should be placed on them given that existing apps were not using these newer technologies.
Q: What key takeaways do you want readers to come away with from the book?
Alexandru: The mechanisms to load data to display to the users and the value of testing these solutions.
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Alexandru: I believe that the official docs from developer.android.com are always a good starting point especially now.
Q. Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Alexandru: The main challenge was assessing the relevance of the existing content and determining if it’s still required and if it should be given the same weight as it had in the past.
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Alexandru: It’s an experience that I recommend everyone trying at least once in their lives.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Alexandru: The book shows not only how to build Android apps but also the best practices involved on how to do so.
Q. What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Alexandru: Android development
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Alexandru: Find a consistent set of examples which can help you formulate the questions you need to seek further solutions.
Q. What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Alexandru: Jetpack Compose will play a much more significant role in the future to the point where future editions of this book will have examples only with Compose instead of XML layouts as we have now.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Alexandru: In this case it was relatively easy because each chapter was isolated so the planning didn’t require an overall planning.
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Alexandru: I don’t follow anything in particular, except the occasional check-in on release notes from various frameworks and the associated articles.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, mention them below.
Alexandru: You can find me on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandru-dumbravan-8a77b791
Q: What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Alexandru: Doing cardio exercises before writing proved helpful in stimulating the mind
You can find Alexandru’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
