https://zsmb.co/ Recent content on zsmb.co Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Fri, 10 Apr 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://zsmb.co/compose-multiplatform-preview-setup/ Tue, 29 Jul 2025 07:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/compose-multiplatform-preview-setup/ Compose Multiplatform now has support for previews in common code. Here's how you can get started with using them. https://zsmb.co/remembering-modifier-order/ Tue, 04 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/remembering-modifier-order/ For the longest time, I proudly had no idea of how Modifier ordering works, and would just guess and then guess again when something didn't look quite right. Here's how I finally ended up remembering how the ordering works. https://zsmb.co/building-a-macos-screen-saver-in-kotlin/ Tue, 05 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/building-a-macos-screen-saver-in-kotlin/ This article documents how I created my own custom screen saver for macOS, built almost entirely in Kotlin, using the powers of Kotlin Multiplatform compiled to macOS. Join me for a tale of Kotlin success and macOS failures. https://zsmb.co/conflating-stateflows/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/conflating-stateflows/ StateFlow behaves as a state holder and a Flow of values at the same time. Due to conflation, a collector of a StateFlow might not receive all values that it holds over time. This article covers what that means for your tests. https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2022/08/celebrating-5-years-of-kotlin-on-android.html Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2022/08/celebrating-5-years-of-kotlin-on-android.html Five years ago, at the 2017 Google I/O Keynote, Kotlin became an officially supported language for Android development. With this post, let's celebrate by revisiting that initial story, some important steps along the way, and by looking at the ongoing efforts by Google to support Kotlin. https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/5-years-of-kotlin-on-android-the-extra-bits-a7dcd17480a9 Wed, 17 Aug 2022 18:50:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/5-years-of-kotlin-on-android-the-extra-bits-a7dcd17480a9 Interview material for the 5 years of Kotlin on Android celebration that did not make it into the main blog post. https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/migrating-to-the-new-coroutines-1-6-test-apis-b99f7fc47774 Wed, 29 Jun 2022 20:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/migrating-to-the-new-coroutines-1-6-test-apis-b99f7fc47774 See the steps we took to migrate our samples to the new APIs, and then get started on migrating your own project! https://zsmb.co/wrap-up-2021/ Fri, 31 Dec 2021 09:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/wrap-up-2021/ Another year over, a new one's almost begun. Here's a brief summary of what I've done in this one. https://dev.to/zsmb13/adventures-in-tracking-upload-progress-with-okhttp-and-retrofit-1gff Fri, 10 Dec 2021 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://dev.to/zsmb13/adventures-in-tracking-upload-progress-with-okhttp-and-retrofit-1gff Tracking file upload progress can have some unexpected complexities. This article tells the story of how we refined our implementation of this feature in the Stream Chat Android SDK. https://zsmb.co/opt-in-annotations/ Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/opt-in-annotations/ Have you ever encountered APIs that show warnings or errors when you use them, saying that they're internal or experimental? In this guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about opt-in APIs in Kotlin: how to create and use them, and all their nuances. https://zsmb.co/a-bit-of-gradle-housekeeping/ Wed, 01 Sep 2021 20:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/a-bit-of-gradle-housekeeping/ While cleaning is traditionally a spring activity, let me invite you to do it at the end of summer this time around. In this article, we'll take a look at some Gradle configuration that you can probably clean up in your Android project. https://dev.to/zsmb13/keeping-public-api-in-check-with-the-kotlin-binary-validator-plugin-2b6m Wed, 14 Jul 2021 07:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://dev.to/zsmb13/keeping-public-api-in-check-with-the-kotlin-binary-validator-plugin-2b6m As your library code is evolving over time, you have to be mindful of changes in your public API. Here’s how you can keep it in check. https://zsmb.co/announcing-requirektx/ Thu, 17 Jun 2021 18:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/announcing-requirektx/ Introducing a new library to conveniently require values from common Android types. https://getstream.io/blog/jetpack-compose-clean-chat-example/ Tue, 08 Jun 2021 18:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://getstream.io/blog/jetpack-compose-clean-chat-example/ Jetpack Compose makes it easy to build beautiful UI. Check out this Chat UI sample, and learn some exciting bits of Compose along the way! https://zsmb.co/pi-practice-app-in-compose/ Sun, 18 Apr 2021 18:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/pi-practice-app-in-compose/ In another detailed Jetpack Compose walkthrough, we'll look at implementing a simple app for practicing the digits of pi! https://zsmb.co/prime-table-generator-jetpack-compose/ Thu, 25 Mar 2021 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/prime-table-generator-jetpack-compose/ I've dusted off one of my oldest (and favourite) coding projects, and rewrote it in Jetpack Compose as a nice little practice exercise. https://proandroiddev.com/android-chat-app-jetpack-compose-dec472140ff1 Fri, 19 Mar 2021 15:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://proandroiddev.com/android-chat-app-jetpack-compose-dec472140ff1 In this tutorial, you'll learn how to build a real, functional chat app using Jetpack Compose and the Stream Chat Android SDK. https://getstream.io/blog/jetpack-compose-impressions-resources/ Fri, 05 Mar 2021 19:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://getstream.io/blog/jetpack-compose-impressions-resources/ Jetpack Compose is finally in beta. Here are my first impressions using its beta, and some recommended resources for getting started with it. https://zsmb.co/compose-o-clock/ Tue, 02 Mar 2021 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/compose-o-clock/ I started learning Jetpack Compose this week. Two days into that adventure, here's a quick look at how a neat clock design can be built up in Compose, step-by-step. https://getstream.io/blog/publishing-libraries-to-mavencentral-2021/ Thu, 04 Feb 2021 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://getstream.io/blog/publishing-libraries-to-mavencentral-2021/ MavenCentral is the place to be for Android libraries, but publishing there is no easy task. With JCenter going away soon, this problem is more timely than ever. Here's the step-by-step guide on how to do it. https://zsmb.co/sealed-goodies-coming-in-kotlin-1-5/ Tue, 19 Jan 2021 14:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/sealed-goodies-coming-in-kotlin-1-5/ Kotlin 1.5 will bring exciting new features, among them improvements to sealed classes and an introduction of sealed interfaces. Let's take a look at what that will look like! https://zsmb.co/wrap-up-2020/ Wed, 30 Dec 2020 20:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/wrap-up-2020/ Let's send this one off so that we can get started on a better one. The "usual" recap of what I've done this year. https://zsmb.co/mastering-api-visibility-in-kotlin/ Wed, 04 Nov 2020 17:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/mastering-api-visibility-in-kotlin/ When designing a library, minimizing your API surface - the types, methods, properties, and functions you expose to the outside world - is a great idea. This doesn't apply to just libraries: it's a consideration you should make for every module in a multi-module project. https://zsmb.co/effective-class-delegation/ Tue, 29 Sep 2020 20:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/effective-class-delegation/ One of the most significant items of the Effective Java book is Item 18: Favor composition over inheritance. Let's see how Kotlin promotes this with class delegation. https://zsmb.co/krate-a-better-sharedpreferences-experience/ Wed, 09 Sep 2020 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/krate-a-better-sharedpreferences-experience/ Accessing SharedPreferences using its API directly can be somewhat inconvenient. Krate is a library built on Kotlin delegates to simplify the use of SharedPreferences. https://zsmb.co/introducing-rainbowcake/ Mon, 29 Jun 2020 15:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/introducing-rainbowcake/ RainbowCake is an Android architecture framework, providing tools and guidance for building modern Android applications. https://zsmb.co/fragment-lifecycles-in-the-age-of-jetpack/ Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/fragment-lifecycles-in-the-age-of-jetpack/ Fragments have... Complicated lifecycles, to say the least. Let's take a look at these, and how they all fit into the world of Jetpack today, with LifecycleOwners, LiveData, and coroutines. https://zsmb.co/thoughts-about-event-handling-on-android/ Tue, 09 Jun 2020 18:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/thoughts-about-event-handling-on-android/ In MVVM-like view architectures, view state isn't enough to communicate from the ViewModel to the View. They have to be supplemented by some kind of events, which come with several challenges you should be aware of. https://zsmb.co/thoughts-about-state-handling-on-android/ Thu, 04 Jun 2020 14:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/thoughts-about-state-handling-on-android/ Handling the state of UI correctly is one of the prominent challenges of Android apps. Here are my subjective thoughts about some different approaches, which ones I tend to choose, and why. https://zsmb.co/designing-and-working-with-single-view-states-on-android/ Mon, 25 May 2020 17:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/designing-and-working-with-single-view-states-on-android/ Describing the state of a screen is a common practice these days thanks to MVI popularizing the concept. Let's take a look at some examples of how you can design your state objects neatly using data classes and sealed classes, and how you can put them into practice. https://zsmb.co/the-single-cable-dream/ Sun, 10 May 2020 09:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/the-single-cable-dream/ Here's the story of how I moved my entire desk setup to be attachable to a computer via a single Thunderbolt 3 cable. It was quite the adventure, and 100% worth it. https://zsmb.co/anecdotes-about-web-apis/ Sat, 11 Apr 2020 10:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/anecdotes-about-web-apis/ I think any respectable service these days should offer a web API to paying customers, so that power users of the service can integrate it with other services, and have reliable, trustworthy programmatic access to their data. Here are some anecdotes about services and APIs. https://zsmb.co/coroutine-cancellation-101/ Wed, 04 Mar 2020 19:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/coroutine-cancellation-101/ A brief introduction to the basics of coroutine cancellation. https://zsmb.co/lets-review-pokedex/ Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/lets-review-pokedex/ In what may be the start of a new series, I code review a project that was posted on reddit recently and got very popular very quickly. Let's see what we can learn from it? https://zsmb.co/wrap-up-2019/ Fri, 27 Dec 2019 09:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/wrap-up-2019/ Another year has come to an end, so it's time to reflect again. I'll attempt to sum up what I've done this year, how that compares to what I was planning to do at this same time last year, and what I expect to be next. https://zsmb.co/getting-only-positive-feedback/ Thu, 28 Nov 2019 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/getting-only-positive-feedback/ A brief discussion of my wonderful imposter syndrome and a call for more criticism (at least towards me). https://web.archive.org/web/20210621155927/https://blog.autsoft.hu/better-custom-views-with-delegates/ Thu, 17 Oct 2019 14:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://web.archive.org/web/20210621155927/https://blog.autsoft.hu/better-custom-views-with-delegates/ Reusable UI components are all the rage these days. In this article, we'll take a look at implementing custom components easily by using Kotlin's delegates. https://zsmb.co/book-preview-living-by-the-code/ Mon, 09 Sep 2019 13:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/book-preview-living-by-the-code/ I can't tell you how much I've been anticipating this book ever since I first heard it announced. This is a very short review, because really, you should read it yourself. But let me spoil one thing: It's amazing. https://web.archive.org/web/20210621172035/https://blog.autsoft.hu/publishing-an-android-library-to-mavencentral-in-2019/ Tue, 27 Aug 2019 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://web.archive.org/web/20210621172035/https://blog.autsoft.hu/publishing-an-android-library-to-mavencentral-in-2019/ MavenCental is the place to be for serious libraries, but setting up publication to it can be a truly daunting task. Here's the guide to how we do it. https://zsmb.co/primaries-matter-a-discussion-of-constructors/ Mon, 12 Aug 2019 18:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/primaries-matter-a-discussion-of-constructors/ Primary constructors play a fundamental role in Kotlin classes. Let's take a close look at them, and really understand what exactly is part of a primary constructor, and what makes this constructor so special. https://zsmb.co/the-dog-riddle/ Thu, 25 Apr 2019 18:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/the-dog-riddle/ A fun little challenge in Kotlin API design. Give it a try! https://web.archive.org/web/20200513142755/https://blog.autsoft.hu/delightful-delegate-design/ Thu, 11 Apr 2019 19:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://web.archive.org/web/20200513142755/https://blog.autsoft.hu/delightful-delegate-design/ When developing a library, designing an easy to use API while hiding unnecessary implementation details from clients is fundamental. Let's look at some API design choices we've made for our library Krate, an Android SharedPreferences wrapper. https://zsmb.co/maintaining-compatibility-in-kotlin-libraries/ Sat, 30 Mar 2019 22:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/maintaining-compatibility-in-kotlin-libraries/ Not breaking client code is an essential duty of a library developer. Let's take a look at a couple rarely discussed issues you might face in this area. https://zsmb.co/a-deep-dive-into-extensible-state-saving/ Tue, 19 Mar 2019 20:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/a-deep-dive-into-extensible-state-saving/ A perhaps overly thorough look at how extensible state saving is implemented in the AndroidX libraries, and how ViewModel state saving specifically is hooked into this system. https://zsmb.co/an-early-look-at-viewmodel-savedstate/ Thu, 14 Mar 2019 20:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/an-early-look-at-viewmodel-savedstate/ A quick preview of the new SavedState support for Android Architecture Component ViewModels. https://zsmb.co/site-history/ Mon, 04 Mar 2019 19:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/site-history/ There has been a website of some sorts up on this domain for a couple years now. Here's a history of what powered it at various times. https://zsmb.co/managing-git-configurations/ Mon, 25 Feb 2019 18:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/managing-git-configurations/ We all use different git configurations for various reasons, and it's easy to get them mixed up. Here's a look at some ways of managing them better. https://zsmb.co/jvmoverloads-for-android-views/ Fri, 22 Feb 2019 11:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/jvmoverloads-for-android-views/ The @JvmOverloads annotation is a convenience feature in Kotlin for interoperating with Java code, but there is one specific use case on Android where it shouldn’t be used carelessly. https://zsmb.co/retrofit-meets-coroutines/ Fri, 15 Feb 2019 22:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/retrofit-meets-coroutines/ Retrofit's coroutine support has been a long time coming, and it's finally coming to completion. Take a look at how you can use it to neatly integrate networking into an application built with coroutines. https://zsmb.co/data-classes-arent-that-magical/ Wed, 16 Jan 2019 16:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/data-classes-arent-that-magical/ Data classes are great, but don't underestimate what a regular Kotlin class can do on its own. https://zsmb.co/wrap-up-2018/ Thu, 27 Dec 2018 15:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/wrap-up-2018/ It's the end of the year, and looking back at what you've done in the year that passed is, like, a thing. So I've decided to take a shot at it too. https://zsmb.co/a-confusing-dependency/ Wed, 12 Dec 2018 10:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/a-confusing-dependency/ A tale of a Gradle dependency that was doing something it wasn't supposed to be doing. https://zsmb.co/androidx-one-month-in/ Sun, 21 Oct 2018 17:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/androidx-one-month-in/ AndroidX has been around for a month now. Here's my experience with the migration so far, and some insight into the adoption of the new system. https://zsmb.co/kotlinconf-18/ Sat, 06 Oct 2018 21:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/kotlinconf-18/ Funnily enough, after the previous conference report on this blog, I've got yet another one. I got to visit KotlinConf this year, these are my initial thoughts about it. Spoiler: it was awesome! https://zsmb.co/posts/typical-kotlin/ Fri, 21 Sep 2018 04:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/posts/typical-kotlin/ Let me invite you on a tour of Kotlin’s type system, exploring how some of the language constructs we take for granted in our everyday use - as they just "make sense" - work! https://kotlinexpertise.com/java-builders-kotlin-dsls/ Wed, 11 Jul 2018 06:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://kotlinexpertise.com/java-builders-kotlin-dsls/ A step by step guide to wrapping an existing Builder-based API into a neat Kotlin DSL. https://zsmb.co/kotliners-2018/ Sat, 16 Jun 2018 20:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/kotliners-2018/ I've attended the Kotliners 2018 conference in Budapest this June. I think it went great, here's how I experienced it. https://zsmb.co/the-other-side-of-stack-overflow/ Sat, 02 Jun 2018 19:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/the-other-side-of-stack-overflow/ My experiences and thoughts after using Stack Overflow from the other side for over a year now, answering questions mostly under the Kotlin tag. https://zsmb.co/on-from-java-to-kotlin-and-back-again/ Thu, 24 May 2018 06:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/on-from-java-to-kotlin-and-back-again/ My thoughts on the allegro.tech article telling their tale of woe about Kotlin. https://zsmb.co/top-10-kotlin-stack-overflow-questions-3/ Tue, 08 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/top-10-kotlin-stack-overflow-questions-3/ The third and final part covers topics of nullability and some small extras to wrap up the series. https://zsmb.co/top-10-kotlin-stack-overflow-questions-2/ Tue, 01 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/top-10-kotlin-stack-overflow-questions-2/ In the second part of the series, I'm covering various possible issues with using SAM conversions, as well as how to create "static" things in Kotlin. https://zsmb.co/top-10-kotlin-stack-overflow-questions-1/ Tue, 24 Apr 2018 08:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/top-10-kotlin-stack-overflow-questions-1/ I've been hanging out around the Kotlin tag on Stack Overflow a lot this last year or so. This is the first part of a series covering the most frequently asked questions there. For a start, we'll be taking a look at various decisions around using collections in Kotlin. I'm hoping there's something new for everyone in here. https://zsmb.co/kotlin-dsl-design-with-village-dsl/ Wed, 20 Sep 2017 18:00:00 +0000 Márton Braun https://zsmb.co/kotlin-dsl-design-with-village-dsl/ A companion article for a talk I've given on Kotlin DSL design possibilities, with many code examples.