Matt's Tidbits #71 - Trying to figure out what to say
Tags: mattstidbits, android, blacklivesmatter
Published: 2020-06-10 22:13:25

Last week, I didn't post a tidbit. I meant to share the tidbit I've included at the bottom of this post, but in the context of all of the racial injustice happening in our country, it didn't feel appropriate. I do still want to continue sharing programming tidbits, and I don't want to turn this blog into a perennial political soapbox, but first, please take a few moments to think about some of what has been happening:
- An African-American man was killed by the police
- Persons of color are the target of additional police scrutiny that they have done nothing to deserve. I have heard stories from countless people over the past week describing the fear they feel when engaging with people in positions of authority (their boss, law enforcement, etc.) - not wanting to report the discrimination they have experienced for fear of getting passed over for promotion or a job assignment, not reporting instances of racism because everyone else around them doesn't think it's a big deal, or most shockingly - parents describing having "the conversation" with their children - not about how their bodies will change as they grow, but instead, how to behave to reduce the chances of the police hurting you.
- Just how little of this I experience on a daily basis. This is a sign of the privilege I have as a white, heterosexual, middle-class man.
- The existence of systems that continually enforce inequality and widen the gap between people of different races & genders.

Unfortunately, these problems are not new - they have existed for a long time, and if you are just learning of them now, be mindful that to some degree that's an element of your own privilege, as those who have been mistreated have certainly been experiencing this for a long time - and that they might be quite angry and hurt about all of this.

So, what do you do with all of this? That's up to you of course. But, we are at what will hopefully be a turning point for civil rights in our country - since it is fresh on everyone's mind, now is the time to take a stand and do all we can to bring about change.

Some things you can do:
1. Educate yourself on the issues (and the experiences/perspectives of people who are different from you)
2. Vote!
3. Protest
4. Sign petitions
5. Donate your money/time/resources to support groups who are directly supporting people or are working to bring about change
6. Identify your own privilege/implicit bias
7. Be an ally - fight racism whenever you see it, especially if you are in a position of authority
8. Listen and have compassion for others
9. Help spread awareness in your social circles

![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*EPopgPa3XvKvLQaF5I-_cQ.png)

---

[Last week, I shared a tip for how to achieve cleaner code diffs.](https://medium.com/@matthew.b.groves/matts-tidbits-70-cleaner-diffs-6e626bc67c97) This time, I wanted to tell you about a useful new feature of Android Studio!

As you may have heard, Android Studio 4.0 was released last week! One of the neatest new features is one they call "Layout Validation":
https://developer.android.com/studio/releases?utm_medium=studio-assistant-stable&utm_source=android-studio-4-0#4-0-0-layout-validation

This allows you to see what a given screen might look like on multiple screen sizes and in multiple languages simultaneously! I am really excited to use this feature and be able to quickly see whether my UI designs are responsive in the way I want them to be.

There's a lot of other new stuff too, so check out that link above to read about all of the other new features and go download the new version today!

What new feature in Android Studio 4.0 are you most excited about? Let me know in the comments! And, please follow me on Medium if you're interested in being notified of future tidbits.

*This tidbit was discovered on May 28, 2020.*