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Development Environment

To build and develop NASA Explorer, you’ll need to set up your development environment with the following requirements.

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Required Software

1

Android Studio

Install Android Studio Koala or a newer version. This is the official IDE for Android development and includes all necessary build tools.Download from: developer.android.com/studio
2

Java Development Kit

Install JDK 17 or higher. The project uses Java 1.8 compatibility but requires JDK 17+ for building.
# Verify your JDK version
java -version
3

Internet Connection

A stable internet connection is required for:
  • Consuming the NASA APOD API
  • Firebase Authentication and Realtime Database
  • Gradle dependency downloads

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Android SDK Requirements

RequirementVersionAPI Level
Minimum SDKAndroid 8.0API 28
Target SDKAndroid 14API 34
Compile SDKAndroid 14API 34
The minimum SDK level is Android 8.0 (API 28), which covers approximately 95% of active Android devices.

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API Keys and Services

NASA Explorer requires external services to function properly. You’ll need to obtain API keys and configure Firebase.

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NASA API Key

1

Register for API Access

Visit api.nasa.gov and sign up for a free API key. The registration is instant and free.
2

Create local.properties

Create or edit the local.properties file in your project root directory:
nasaApiKey=YOUR_API_KEY_HERE
3

Verify Configuration

The API key is automatically injected into BuildConfig.NASA_API_KEY during build time via Gradle.
Never commit local.properties to version control. This file is included in .gitignore to protect your API keys.

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Firebase Configuration

The application uses Firebase for authentication and data storage.
1

Create Firebase Project

Go to Firebase Console and create a new project.
2

Add Android App

Register an Android app with the application ID:
com.ccandeladev.nasaexplorer
3

Enable Services

Enable the following Firebase services:
  • Authentication - Email/Password provider
  • Realtime Database - For storing user favorites
4

Download Configuration

Download the google-services.json file and place it in:
app/google-services.json
The google-services.json file contains sensitive configuration data and is excluded from the repository via .gitignore.

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Gradle Configuration

The project uses Gradle version catalogs for dependency management.

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Key Dependencies

[versions]
agp = "8.5.2"
kotlin = "2.0.0"
hilt = "2.49"
retrofit = "2.9.0"
navigationCompose = "2.8.0"
firebaseDatabaseKtx = "21.0.0"

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Memory Settings

Gradle is configured to use up to 2GB of heap memory. If you encounter build issues on machines with limited RAM, you can adjust this in gradle.properties: 
org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx1536m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8

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Hardware Requirements

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Minimum Requirements

  • RAM: 8 GB (16 GB recommended for optimal performance)
  • Storage: 8 GB free space for Android Studio and SDK
  • Processor: Intel Core i5 or equivalent

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Testing Devices

You can test the application on:
  • Physical Device: Any Android device running Android 8.0 (API 28) or higher
  • Emulator: Android Virtual Device (AVD) configured with:
    • API Level 28 or higher
    • At least 2 GB RAM
    • Google Play Services (for Firebase)
Physical devices provide better performance and more accurate testing results, especially for UI interactions and network requests.

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Verification

After setting up your environment, verify everything is configured correctly:
1

Open Project

Open the project in Android Studio and wait for Gradle sync to complete.
2

Check Configuration

Ensure these files exist and are properly configured:
  • local.properties (with NASA API key)
  • app/google-services.json (Firebase configuration)
3

Build Project

Build the project to verify all dependencies are resolved:
./gradlew build
If the build completes successfully, your environment is ready for development.

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