Google I/O 2017 day 2

Google I/O day two is a full packed day diving more into yesterdays keynotes, through Technical Sessions, Code Labs and Office Hours. The technical sessions are what you know from most established conferences, with a presenter or a panel spending 45 min on some technical topic. Code Labs is a lab setup with lots of workstations for experimenting with the various technologies in focus of the conference. Office Hours is a very popular activity where a conference participant can engage with the guro's, get design help, app reviews etc.

The overall themes remain the ones outlined in the keynotes, namely Android, Firebase, Mobile Web, IoT, AI and VR/AR. Apart from yesterdays announcement of Kotlin being embraced on Android and improved tooling in Android Studio 3.0, Google also announced a new library Android Architecture Components, in an attempt of making it easier to develop Android applications. This library is targeting typical painpoints of using the established API's by embracing Reactive Programming regarding app lifecycles via a ViewModel and databinding which also introduces a new matching ORM called Room - both of which available for preview. Room looks like a remarkable simple and pragmatic take on the problem. Another change impacting the Android universe, is modulation of apps required by the new Instant App feature. Android Studio 3.0 contains tools to facilitate breaking up your monolith Android app but this is still likely to be no easy feat - it seems more important now than ever, to build your application in smaller discrete parts.

Since Google's purchase of Fabric, many wondered how this marriage would pan out. Google said they are slowly but surely embracing one another. Crashlytics will soon become the main crash reporting product for Firebase and the two teams are using design sprints to align and merge their features. Another apparent merger is happening with Firebase Analytics and Google Analytics, as the former will soon be known as Google Analytics for Firebase. Developers who want to live on the edge can now also join the Firebase Alpha program to get access to the latest and greatest within the Firebase umbrella. Last but not least, Google ensured that Crashlytics and Fastlane would remain free.