Android Developers

Write Your App

Android Studio includes tools for every stage of development, but what's
most important is simply writing your app: writing the code, building layouts,
creating images, and being productive along the way.
That's what this section is all about: the tools that help you write your app and write
it quickly.

Coding Productivity
The following are just a few features to help you be more productive when coding.

Create custom code-completion templates

Live templates allow you to enter code snippets for fast insertion and completion of
small chunks of code. To insert a live template, type the template abbreviation and
press the Tab key. Android Studio inserts the code snippet associated with the
template into your code.
For example, the newInstance abbreviation followed by Tab inserts the code for a
new fragment instance with argument placeholders. Or type fbc to insert the
findViewById() method along with cast and resource id syntax.

To see the list of supported live templates and customize them, click File > Settings
> Editor > Live Templates.
Learn more about Live Templates (https://medium.com/google-developers/writing-more-codeby-writing-less-code-with-android-studio-live-templates-244f648d17c7#.h1jn0hq31).

Get quick xes from Lint

Android Studio provides a code scanning tool called Lint to help you to identify and
correct problems with the structural quality of your code, without executing the app
or writing tests.
Every time you build your app, Android Studio runs Lint to check your source les
for potential bugs and looks for optimization improvements in correctness, security,
performance, usability, accessibility, and internationalization.

Learn more about Lint (https://developer.android.com/studio/write/lint.html).

See documentation and resource details

You can view documentation for an API by placing the caret on the
method/member/class name and pressing F1.
Information is also available for other resources, such as images and themes. For
example, if you place the caret on the theme name in your Android manifest le and
press F1, you can see the theme inheritance hierarchy and colors or images for the
various attributes.

Quickly create new les

When you want to create a new le, click the desired directory in the Project
window, then press Alt + Insert (Command + N on Mac). Android Studio shows a
small window with a list of suggested le types, as appropriate for the selected
directory.

Working with Resources

Android Studio includes the following features and tools to help you create and
manage resource les.

Create images for all screen densities

Android Studio includes a tool called Vector Asset Studio that helps you create
images that support each screen density. You can upload your own SVG le for
editing or select from one of the many Google-provided material design icons. To
get started, click File > New > Vector Asset.
Learn more about Vector Asset Studio (https://developer.android.com/studio/write/vector-assetstudio.html).

Preview images and colors

When referencing images and icons in your code, a preview of the image appears in
the left margin to help you verify the image or icon reference.
To view the full size image, click the thumbnail in the left margin. Or, place the caret
on the inline reference to the asset and press F1 to see the image details, including

all the alternative sizes.

Create new layouts

Android Studio offers an advanced layout editor that allows you to drag-and-drop
widgets into your layout and preview your layout while editing the XML.
To get started, click the module where you want to add the layout, then click File >
New > XML > Layout XML File.
Learn more about the Layout Editor (https://developer.android.com/studio/write/layout-editor.html).

Translate UI strings
The Translations Editor tool gives you a single view of all of your translated
resources, making it easy to change or add translations, and even nd missing
translations without opening every version of the strings.xml le. You can even
upload your strings le to order translation services.
To get started, right-click on any copy of your strings.xml le then click Open
Translations Editor.
Learn more about the Translations Editor (https://developer.android.com/studio/write/translationseditor.html).