Multi tool use

Best way to store dynamic data?

I am developing a launcher for Android and need some advice on designing my persistent storage system.

I wish for people to be able to create different categories for their apps (e.g Media, Utilities, Social). Users must be able to choose the order of their apps and apps can appear in more than one category. Users can update the order of the apps and order should persist on restart. I would also like to keep track of how often apps are launched so that I can have an automatic 'most used' category.

I have had 2 approaches but neither seem ideal:

Save the list of apps to a file (JSON or other), taking note of the package name and position in the list. When required bring this file in and sort by order

Save the list in an SQLlite database, either:

Option 1 I feel would be tricky to keep dynamic and unsure of efficiency, so I prefer option 2 because its's simple to update and automatically Order By, however it may be overkill to use a DB for this.

Any advice or other possible solutions would be great! Thanks

2 Answers
2

I'd go for a database approach. I think storing data in a file is perhaps a good choice for small applications where the data don't grow and you flush changes max once before the application is destroyed.

If you want to avoid the boilerplate code of SQLite, then consider Room. Alternatively, you may want to have a look at Realm which is an alternative to SQLite.

If your function is limited then a file based approach works, your approach depends on basis of features you want to have like

-->add i.e (append) specific index or you resorting or shuffling of data is needed.

-->consuming the data i.e If accessing the data in ordered fashion or filtering on multiple features.

Storing data in a file is generally preferred for a small collection of key-values like android Sharedpref itself.
Depending on the functionalities your launcher has the file system gets complex and slower accessing and modification in which case it(file) won't be the best way to store the list of apps (& other info if needed) in a file.

Building a database would help overcome all the complex for future functions like different sorting and other features.

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