Effectively Producing And Shipping Frameworks For Multiple Platforms

EFFECTIVELY PRODUCING AND SHIPPING
FRAMEWORKS FOR MULTIPLE PLATFORMS
DONNY WALS

EFFECTIVELY PRODUCING AND SHIPPING FRAMEWORKS FOR MULTIPLE
PLATFORMS
AGENDA

PLATFORMS
AGENDA
▸ An introduction to SDKs

PLATFORMS
AGENDA
▸ Designing an SDK

PLATFORMS
AGENDA
▸ Distributing your SDK to developers

PLATFORMS
AGENDA
▸ Distributing your SDK to developers
▸ Closing remarks

SDK
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT KIT
Android SDK

SDK
Android SDK iOS SDK

SDK
Android SDK iOS SDK
Firebase SDK

SDK
Android SDK iOS SDK
Firebase SDK Google Maps SDK

SDK
Android SDK iOS SDK
Firebase SDK Google Maps SDK And many others...

SDK
It's really just a tool that makes it easy to
integrate certain features in your app.

Your project
Remote server
SDK

Your project
Remote server
SDK
Complex system

Your project
Remote server
SDK
SDK
Complex system

Your project
Remote server
SDK
SDK
SDK
Complex system
Low level API

Your project
Remote server
SDK
SDK
SDK
Complex system
Low level API
AN SDK WILL
USUALLY ACT AS
AN INTERFACE
BETWEEN A
COMPLICATED
"THING" AND
YOUR CODE

A GOOD SDK ALLOWS YOU TO TURN THIS

CALCULATE SOME
ARBITRARY SIGNATURE

CALCULATE SOME
ARBITRARY SIGNATURE
APPLY AUTHENTICATION

CALCULATE SOME
ARBITRARY SIGNATURE
APPLY AUTHENTICATION
REFRESH TOKEN AND
RETRY?

Account services
Media services
Feed services
Push services
etc...

Account services
Media services
Feed services
Push services
etc...
Local store
Filesystem

Account services
Media services
Feed services
Push services
etc...
SDK
Local store
Filesystem

HOW APPS ARE (OFTEN) DESIGNED
Designer

THE SDK DESIGN PROCESS
JavascriptiOS Android

Javascript
iOS Android

JavascriptiOS Android
NATIVE CODE

A CONSISTENT
PUBLIC API
MAKES IT EASIER
TO REASON
ABOUT THE WAY
AN SDK SHOULD
BE INTEGRATED.

SIMILARITIES IN FIREBASE

▸ All platforms use a set / setValue style syntax

▸ All platforms must obtain a ref to the database

▸ All platforms must obtain a ref to the database
▸ The examples all used a similar use case

A consistent public API allows app developers
to exchange knowledge about your SDK
regardless of the platform they work on.

DESIGNING A NEW FEATURE
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

▸ Describe the feature in detail

▸ Provide as much context as needed / possible

▸ Link to external documentation and information if possible

▸ Link to external documentation and information if possible
▸ Stay on point, be concise but also precise

Gherkin: GIVEN/WHEN/THEN

▸ Given: An account manager instance and valid login
credentials.

credentials.
▸ When: Calling login() on the account manager with the
correct credentials.

credentials.
▸ When: Calling login() on the account manager with the
correct credentials.
▸ Then: A LoginResult with a success state should be
returned eventually

DISTRIBUTING YOUR SDK
▸ Bump version as needed

▸ Deploy your SDK update

▸ Clearly communicate changes to consumers

▸ Ensure your documentation is up to date

▸ Ensure your documentation is up to date
▸ Provide support to consumers

BUMPING YOUR SDK VERSION

▸ Not every platform has to be on the same version.

▸ Not every platform has to be on the same version.
▸ Don't worry about releasing often, but try to limit your
breaking changes.

DEPLOY YOUR SDK UPDATE

▸ Set up CI to distribute your SDK to the distribution channel
of your choice.

of your choice.
▸ Open-source, closed-source, pick the one you need for
your SDK.

of your choice.
▸ Open-source, closed-source, pick the one you need for
your SDK.
▸ Sometimes you need both, for instance when you ship
your SDK to a third party.

COMMUNICATE CHANGES

COMMUNICATE CHANGES
▸ Use a CHANGELOG.md so it's easy to document changes.

COMMUNICATE CHANGES
▸ If appropriate, send out an email, slack message or other
notiﬁcation to your SDK users with changes for the latest
version.

COMMUNICATE CHANGES
▸ If appropriate, send out an email, slack message or other
notiﬁcation to your SDK users with changes for the latest
version.
▸ Be clear, and be thorough. These update notes are way
more important than your regular app update notes ("Bug
ﬁxes and other improvements").

UPDATE YOUR DOCUMENTATION

▸ Pay extra attention to your code samples and getting
started guides.

▸ Pay extra attention to your code samples and getting
started guides.
▸ Broken documentation is extremely frustrating for people
that use your SDK, especially if they are new.

PROVIDE SUPPORT

PROVIDE SUPPORT
▸ Set up a Slack channel, mailing list, use Github or anything
else that you think makes sense.

PROVIDE SUPPORT
▸ Set up a Slack channel, mailing list, use Github or anything
else that you think makes sense.
▸ Be welcoming and kind, nobody knows your SDK like the
team that built it.

CLOSING REMARKS
▸ Just like users, other developers will ﬁnd ways to use your SDK that
you didn't think were possible.

CLOSING REMARKS
▸ Your SDK will contain bugs, and developers will tell you about them.

CLOSING REMARKS
▸ Be kind to SDK users when they call out for support, they often don't
understand the SDK on the level you do.

CLOSING REMARKS
▸ Avoid staying in "spec review" for too long. Avoid bike-shedding.

CLOSING REMARKS
▸ Don't rush either, your code directly impacts the quality of apps you
don't control.

CLOSING REMARKS
▸ Don't rush either, your code directly impacts the quality of apps you
don't control.
▸ Not having any UI to test your code with forces you to write (good)
unit tests, which is very interesting to experience.

Effectively Producing And Shipping Frameworks For Multiple Platforms

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