Firebase is a backend platform for building web, Android and iOS applications. It offers real-time database, authentication services, storage solutions, and various other tools and services to help developers build high-quality apps faster. Firebase is developed by Google and is available as a cloud service, with support for multiple programming languages.
There are several reasons why developers choose to use Firebase:
Real-time database: Firebase’s real-time database enables real-time synchronization of data across all connected devices.
Easy authentication: Firebase provides easy-to-use authentication services for email/password, phone number, and other popular identity providers.
Scalability: Firebase is built to scale automatically and can handle large amounts of traffic and data.
Hosting: Firebase also provides hosting services for web applications, making it easy to deploy and serve web content.
Integration: Firebase integrates with other Google services and other popular tools, making it a comprehensive platform for developing, deploying, and managing applications.
Affordable: Firebase provides many services for free or at a very affordable cost, making it a cost-effective solution for small and large scale applications.
Some alternatives to Firebase include:
AWS (Amazon Web Services): A cloud computing platform that offers a variety of services including databases, storage, and authentication.
Heroku: A cloud platform for deploying, managing, and scaling web applications.
Parse: A Backend-as-a-Service platform that provides a complete backend for mobile and web applications.
MongoDB Atlas: A fully managed cloud database service for modern applications.
Microsoft Azure: A cloud computing platform that offers a variety of services including databases, storage, and authentication.
Back4App: A Backend-as-a-Service platform that provides a complete backend for mobile and web applications built with Parse technology.
PostgreSQL: A free and open-source relational database management system.
Realm: An open-source mobile database platform designed for mobile devices.
To connect your Android app to Firebase, you can follow these steps:
Create a Firebase project in the Firebase console.
Go to the Firebase console and click on the Android icon to register your app.
Enter your app’s package name and provide a default nickname for your app.
Download the “google-services.json” file from the Firebase console and place it in the “app” directory of your Android Studio project.
Add the following lines to your project-level build.gradle file:
buildscript {
dependencies {
// Add the dependency for the Google services Gradle plugin
classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.3.15'
}
}
plugins {
//below is alredy there
id 'com.android.application'
// this to be added
// Add the Google services Gradle plugin
id 'com.google.gms.google-services'
}
dependencies{
implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-database:20.0.4'
}
Sync your gradle files by clicking on “Sync Now” in the top right corner of the Android Studio window.
Initialize Firebase in your app’s main activity:
M-1
import com.google.firebase.FirebaseApp;
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
// Initialize Firebase
FirebaseApp.initializeApp(this);
}
}
M-2
The code FirebaseFirestore firestore; declares a variable firestore of type FirebaseFirestore. It is used to interact with the Firebase Firestore database.
The Firebase Firestore library is a NoSQL document-based database provided by Firebase. It allows you to store and retrieve data in real-time, as well as perform complex queries and transactions on the data.
The firestore variable can be used to perform various operations such as reading data from the database, writing data to the database, updating data, and deleting data.
FirebaseFirestore firestore;
The code import com.google.firebase.firestore.FirebaseFirestore; is an import statement in Java. It is used to include the FirebaseFirestore class from the com.google.firebase.firestore package into the current Java file.
import com.google.firebase.firestore.FirebaseFirestore;
import java.util.Map;
below code is used to store data in the Firebase Firestore database.
firestore = FirebaseFirestore.getInstance();: This line creates an instance of the FirebaseFirestore class and assigns it to the firestore variable. The FirebaseFirestore.getInstance() method returns a singleton instance of the FirebaseFirestore class, which can be used to interact with the Firebase Firestore database.
Map<String, Object> users = new HashMap<>();: This line declares a variable users of type Map<String, Object>, which is a collection of key-value pairs. The keys are strings and the values are objects. This map will be used to store data that will be added to the Firebase Firestore database.
users.put("firstName", "Kumar");: This line adds a key-value pair to the users map, where the key is “firstName” and the value is “Kumar”.
firestore.collection("users").add(users): This line adds the data stored in the users map to a collection named “users” in the Firebase Firestore database. The add method returns a Task object that represents the asynchronous operation of adding data to the database.
.addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<DocumentReference>() { ... }): This line registers a success listener for the Task returned by the add method. The success listener is an instance of the OnSuccessListener<DocumentReference> interface, and it takes a DocumentReference object as an argument. If the add operation is successful, the onSuccess method is called and a toast message “Success” is displayed.
.addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() { ... }): This line registers a failure listener for the Task returned by the add method. The failure listener is an instance of the OnFailureListener interface, and it takes a Exception object as an argument. If the add operation fails, the onFailure method is called and a toast message “Failure” is displayed.
// Code For Firebase Data Storage
firestore = FirebaseFirestore.getInstance();
Map<String, Object> users = new HashMap<>();
users.put("firstName", "Kumar");
users.put("lastName", "Abhinav");
users.put("year", "3rd Year IT");
users.put("firstName2","H.S");
users.put("lastName2","Rai");
users.put("post", "HOD CIVIL");
firestore.collection("users").add(users).addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<DocumentReference>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(DocumentReference documentReference) {
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Success", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
}).addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() {
@Override
public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Failure", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
});