This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Prasoon Jadon
🚀 My Journey Learning App Development with Jetpack Compose at 16
When I first opened Android Studio, I had no idea what I was getting into.
The green robot looked friendly enough — but the moment I saw the thousands of files, XML layouts, and cryptic errors, I realized this was going to be a wild ride.
I’m 16 years old, and over the past few months, I’ve been learning Android app development using Jetpack Compose — Google’s modern UI toolkit. This is my story, what I learned, what I broke, and why I fell in love with Compose.
🧠 Why I Chose Jetpack Compose
Like most beginners, I started by watching YouTube tutorials on “How to build Android apps.” Almost every video used XML layouts — but I found that process… confusing and slow.
Then I discovered Jetpack Compose.
It looked clean, modern, and honestly — cool.
Here’s what immediately clicked for me:
- No XML files. Everything in Kotlin 🩵
- Easy previews
- Reactive UI (state just works!)
- Minimal boilerplate
A single composable function could make something beautiful. For example:
@Composable
fun GreetingCard(name: String) {
Card(
modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp),
colors = CardDefaults.cardColors(containerColor = Color(0xFF101820))
) {
Text(
text = "Hello, $name 👋",
modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp),
color = Color(0xFF00BFFF),
fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold
)
}
}
When I ran this for the first time and saw it appear in the preview window, I knew I was hooked.
⚙️ My First Real Project
My first “serious” app was a counter app.
Yep, just a button that increases a number — but it taught me so much about state management in Compose.
@Composable
fun CounterApp() {
var count by remember { mutableStateOf(0) }
Column(
horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally,
verticalArrangement = Arrangement.Center,
modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize()
) {
Text("Count: $count", fontSize = 24.sp)
Button(onClick = { count++ }) {
Text("Increase")
}
}
}
It might look simple, but it was my first moment of seeing how UI reacts to data changes instantly.
No findViewById, no XML, just Kotlin magic.
🎨 Learning Design (The Hard Way)
At first, my apps looked… awful 😅
Dark blue text on black backgrounds, buttons the size of Jupiter — you name it.
That’s when I learned about Material 3, themes, and color palettes.
Compose makes it easy to design apps that look professional with just a few lines.
For example, adding a gradient background felt like wizardry:
Box(
modifier = Modifier
.fillMaxSize()
.background(
Brush.verticalGradient(
colors = listOf(Color(0xFF0D47A1), Color(0xFF42A5F5))
)
),
contentAlignment = Alignment.Center
) {
Text("Welcome to my app!", color = Color.White, fontSize = 24.sp)
}
That’s when I realized — design isn’t just about looks; it’s about emotion.
🧩 The Challenges
Learning app development at 16 hasn’t been all smooth sailing.
-
Errors like
Unresolved reference: dpmade me question reality. - Gradle sync issues took hours to fix.
- Sometimes Android Studio just crashed for no reason.
But every bug I fixed made me a bit better at debugging.
I started to understand what the compiler was trying to tell me, instead of panicking.
🌟 What I’ve Learned So Far
- Start small. Don’t jump into a big app right away.
- Use documentation. Google’s Compose docs are your best friend.
- Experiment. Try colors, animations, layouts — break things!
- Version control. GitHub is not scary; it’s a superpower.
- Have fun. Building apps is like creating your own little universe.
💭 What’s Next?
Now I’m working on a small e-commerce-style prototype app — just for fun — with animations, cards, and dark themes. My next goals are:
- Learn Navigation in Compose
- Use ViewModel + Room Database
- Publish my first app on GitHub and maybe even Google Play someday
❤️ Final Thoughts
If you’re a teenager like me who’s curious about coding — start now.
You don’t need to know everything. You just need curiosity and persistence.
Jetpack Compose made Android development fun again — and I can’t wait to see what I’ll build next.
Thanks for reading! 🙌
If you enjoyed this story or have any tips for a young developer, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Prasoon Jadon
Prasoon Jadon | Sciencx (2025-10-28T05:13:14+00:00) 🚀 My Journey Learning App Development with Jetpack Compose at 16. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/10/28/%f0%9f%9a%80-my-journey-learning-app-development-with-jetpack-compose-at-16/
Please log in to upload a file.
There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.