Android Networking

Android Networking Standards

Priority: P0

Implementation Guidelines

Libraries & Setup

• Client: Use Retrofit 2 with OkHttp 4 for all backend communication.
• Serialization: Use Kotlinx Serialization (preferred). Use @SerialName for JSON field mapping.
• Security: Implement Certificate Pinning for sensitive production domains. Use NetworkSecurityConfig for cleartext traffic control.

Network Ops

• Interceptors: Use OkHttp Interceptors for global concerns like Bearer token injection via the Authorization header and HttpLoggingInterceptor (debug only).
• Architecture: All API calls must be suspend functions. Use a Result wrapper or Either to handle success/failure in the Repository layer.
• Minification: Ensure isMinifyEnabled is true in build.gradle and define R8/ProGuard rules for Retrofit/OkHttp to prevent runtime crashes.
• Testing: Use MockWebServer to simulate API responses in unit and integration tests. Ensure 100% test coverage for error cases (500, 401, 403).

Anti-Patterns

• No Blocking Network Calls: All API functions must be suspend.
• No Logic in API Interface: Only declare endpoints — handle errors in Repository.
• No Raw Converter Factory: Explicitly set "application/json" MediaType with kotlinx.serialization.

References

• Setup & Wrappers