Last Updated on December 24, 2020 by AbdurRahman G Official | Md Ghufran Salafi

Create XML layouts for Android:

Solution code

res/layout/activity_main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:padding="16dp"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/cost_of_service"
        android:layout_width="160dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:hint="@string/cost_of_service"
        android:inputType="numberDecimal"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/service_question"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/how_was_the_service"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@id/cost_of_service" />

    <RadioGroup
        android:id="@+id/tip_options"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:checkedButton="@id/option_twenty_percent"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@id/service_question">

        <RadioButton
            android:id="@+id/option_twenty_percent"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="@string/amazing_service" />

        <RadioButton
            android:id="@+id/option_eighteen_percent"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="@string/good_service" />

        <RadioButton
            android:id="@+id/option_fifteen_percent"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="@string/ok_service" />
    </RadioGroup>

    <Switch
        android:id="@+id/round_up_switch"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:checked="true"
        android:text="@string/round_up_tip"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@id/tip_options" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/calculate_button"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/calculate"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@id/round_up_switch" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/tip_result"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tip_amount"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@id/calculate_button" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

res/values/strings.xml

<resources>
   <string name="app_name">Tip Time</string>
   <string name="cost_of_service">Cost of Service</string>
   <string name="how_was_the_service">How was the service?</string>
   <string name="amazing_service">Amazing (20%)</string>
   <string name="good_service">Good (18%)</string>
   <string name="ok_service">Okay (15%)</string>
   <string name="round_up_tip">Round up tip?</string>
   <string name="calculate">Calculate</string>
   <string name="tip_amount">Tip Amount</string>
</resources>

Summary

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a way of organizing text, made of tags, elements, and attributes.
Use XML to define the layout of an Android app.
Use EditText to let the user input or edit text.
An EditText can have a hint to tell the user what is expected in that field.
Specify the android:inputType attribute to limit what type of text the user can input into an EditText field.
Make a list of exclusive options with RadioButtons, grouped with a RadioGroup.
A RadioGroup can be vertical or horizontal, and you can specify which RadioButton should be selected initially.
Use a Switch to let the user toggle between two options.
You can add a label to a Switch without using a separate TextView.
Each child of a ConstraintLayout needs to have vertical and horizontal constraints.
Use “start” and “end” constraints to handle both Left to Right (LTR) and Right to Left (RTL) languages.
Names of the constraint attributes follow the form layout_constraint<Source>_to<Target>Of.
To make a View as wide as the ConstraintLayout it’s in, constrain the start and end to the start and end of the parent, and set the width to 0dp.

Learn more

Below are links to more documentation on the topics covered. You can find all of the documentation for Android Development on developer.android.com. And don’t forget you can do a Google search if you get stuck on something.

Practice on your own

Do the following:

Create a different calculator app, like a unit converter for cooking, to convert milliliters to or from fluid ounces, grams to or from cups, and so on. What fields do you need?