In the previous article, we have a quick introduction to Dagger 2 with a simple introductory example. In this article, I will show you how to use Android Build variants with Dagger 2 to have different implementations (for the service interface) that are switched automatically when the app is in the debug mode or in the release mode.

First of all, under the release directory, let’s create a new component DaggerGraphComponent which extends from DaggerGraph as follows.

@Singleton
@Component(modules = {MainModule.class, ServiceModule.class})
public interface DaggerGraphComponent extends DaggerGraph {

    static final class Initializer {
        private Initializer() {
        }

        public static DaggerGraph init(DaggerApplication app) {
            return DaggerDaggerGraphComponent.builder()
                                             .mainModule(new MainModule(app))
                                             .build();
        }
    }
}

Secondly, create a service module which will be responsible for creating the instances of HelloService implementations (in debug and release modes).

For the release mode, ServiceModule provides only an instance of the HelloServiceReleaseManager class which implements HelloService.

@Module
public class ServiceModule {

    @Provides
    @Singleton
    HelloService provideHelloService() {
        return new HelloServiceReleaseManager();
    }
}

Below is HelloServiceReleaseManager simple implementation.

public class HelloServiceReleaseManager implements HelloService {

    @Override
    public String greet(String userName) {
        return "Hello " + userName + "! [Release]";
    }
}

Apply the same steps under the debug directory, in debug case, you can have a HelloServiceDebugManager class which implements HelloService interface as shown below.

public class HelloServiceDebugManager implements HelloService {

    @Override
    public String greet(String userName) {
        return "Hello " + userName + "! [Debug]";
    }
}

Make sure to have the following code hierarchy in release and debug.

Running the project

Now, you can run the app in debug mode, and then enter some name and then click “Greet!” button, you will find the debug service response as follows.

And then change the build variant to run the app in the release mode and do the same previous steps to see the results as shown below.

Checkout the code

Check the sample app code in GitHub:
https://github.com/hazems/Dagger-Sample/tree/dagger-sample2

What is next?

So in the next article, I will discuss how can we apply unit testing techniques for Dagger 2 applications. Stay tuned!