📌Room Database in Android with Jetpack Compose

Welcome to this hands-on tutorial where we’ll unpack what Room is, why it’s important, and walk you through a simple yet solid example to get started.

🎥 Watch the full video here: 👉 YouTube Video Link

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✅ What You'll Learn

In this project, you'll discover how to:

• Understand what Room Database is and why it’s better than just using variables
• Define your Entity, DAO, and Database classes in a clean, Kotlin-friendly way
• Use ViewModel and Flow for reactive UI updates
• Connect everything with Jetpack Compose UI
• BONUS: Use App Inspection in Android Studio to view and debug your Room data live!

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🆚 App Comparison

To help you understand Room better, we built and compared two versions of the app:

• ❌ Without Room: Just stores data in memory — it disappears when the app is closed
• ✅ With Room: Uses a local database — your data stays saved even after closing or restarting the app

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🛠️ Project Setup

Starter project link is included in the 📌 video description.

We use:

• Jetpack Compose
• Room Database
• ViewModel + Flow
• Android Studio App Inspection

🔧 Dependencies

// ViewModel Compose
implementation("androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose:2.8.7")

// Room Database
val roomVersion = "2.7.0"
implementation("androidx.room:room-runtime:$roomVersion")
ksp("androidx.room:room-compiler:$roomVersion")
implementation("androidx.room:room-ktx:$roomVersion")

Also apply the KSP plugin in your build.gradle (Module) file:

id("com.google.devtools.ksp") version "2.1.10-1.0.31"

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📂 File Structure Overview

File	Purpose
Task.kt	The Entity – defines the data model
TaskDao.kt	The DAO – defines how to interact with the data
TodoDatabase.kt	The Room Database class – ties everything together
TaskViewModel.kt	The ViewModel – handles business logic and DB operations
MainActivity.kt	The UI entry point with Compose setup

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Sample Codes

import android.content.Context
import androidx.room.Database
import androidx.room.Room
import androidx.room.RoomDatabase

@Database(entities = [Task::class], version = 1)
abstract class TaskDatabase : RoomDatabase() {
    abstract fun taskDao(): TaskDao

    companion object {
        @Volatile
        private var INSTANCE: TaskDatabase? = null
        fun getDatabase(context: Context): TaskDatabase {
            return INSTANCE ?: synchronized(this) {
                val instance = Room.databaseBuilder(
                    context.applicationContext, TaskDatabase::class.java, "task_db"
                ).build()
                INSTANCE = instance
                instance
            }
        }
    }
}

🧠 Key Concepts Covered

• @Entity, @Dao, @Database annotations
• Using Flow with Compose for reactive updates
• Background threading with Dispatchers.IO
• Using viewModels() in Compose activities
• Clean MVVM architecture for small apps

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🔍 Bonus: App Inspection in Android Studio

At the end of the video, you’ll learn how to:

📊 Use App Inspection Tool to inspect your Room database tables and view live data inside Android Studio — like a built-in database browser!

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🙌 Wrap-Up

We built a beautiful, beginner-friendly task app that stores your tasks permanently, all without needing a backend or internet connection.

Don’t forget to:

✅ Like the video
✅ Subscribe for more tutorials
💬 Drop a question in the comment

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📬 Contact & Socials

📧 Email: info@8bitstechnology.com
🐦 X (Twitter): @mawulikazameti
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💼 LinkedIn: Mawuli Azameti