Lesson 8:
App architecture (UI
layer)
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About this lesson
Lesson 8: App architecture (UI layer)
● Android app architecture
● ViewModel
● Data binding
● LiveData
● Transform LiveData
● Summary
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Android app architecture
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Avoid short-term hacks
● External factors, such as tight deadlines, can lead to poor
decisions about app design and structure.
● Decisions have consequences for future work (app can be
harder to maintain long-term).
● Need to balance on-time delivery and future maintenance
burden.
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Examples of short-term hacks
● Tailoring your app to a specific device
● Blindly copying and pasting code into your files
● Placing all business logic in activity file
● Hardcoding user-facing strings in your code
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Why you need good app architecture
● Clearly defines where specific business logic belongs
● Makes it easier for developers to collaborate
● Makes your code easier to test
● Lets you benefit from already-solved problems
● Saves time and reduces technical debt as you extend your app
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Android Jetpack
● Android libraries that incorporate best practices and provide
backward compatibility in your apps
● Jetpack comprises the androidx.* package libraries
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Separation of concerns
res/layout
UI Controller
(Activity/Fragment) ViewModel
LiveData
Data Layer
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Architecture components
● Architecture design patterns, like MVVM and MVI, describe a
loose template for what the structure of your app should be.
● Jetpack architecture components help you design robust,
testable, and maintainable apps.
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ViewModel
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Gradle: lifecycle extensions
In app/build.gradle file:
dependencies {
implementation "androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-ktx:$lifecycle_version"
implementation "androidx.activity:activity-ktx:$activity_version"
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ViewModel
● Prepares data for the UI
● Must not reference activity, fragment, or views in view hierarchy
● Scoped to a lifecycle (which activity and fragment have)
● Enables data to survive configuration changes
● Survives as long as the scope is alive
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Lifetime of a ViewModel
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Kabaddi Kounter
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ViewModel class
abstract class ViewModel
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Implement a ViewModel
class ScoreViewModel : ViewModel() {
var scoreA : Int = 0
var scoreB : Int = 0
fun incrementScore(isTeamA: Boolean) {
if (isTeamA) {
scoreA++
}
else {
scoreB++
}
}
}
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Load and use a ViewModel
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
// Delegate provided by androidx.activity.viewModels
val viewModel: ScoreViewModel by viewModels()
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
...
val scoreViewA: TextView = findViewById(R.id.scoreA)
scoreViewA.text = viewModel.scoreA.toString()
}
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Using a ViewModel
Within MainActivity onCreate():
val scoreViewA: TextView = findViewById(R.id.scoreA)
val plusOneButtonA: Button = findViewById(R.id.plusOne_teamA)
plusOneButtonA.setOnClickListener {
viewModel.incrementScore(true)
scoreViewA.text = viewModel.scoreA.toString()
}
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Data binding
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ViewModels and data binding
● App architecture without data binding
UI Controller Views
ViewModel (activity/fragment with (defined in XML
click listeners) layout)
● ViewModels can work in concert with data binding
Views
ViewModel (defined in XML
layout)
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Data binding in XML revisited
Specify ViewModels in the data tag of a binding.
<layout>
<data>
<variable>
name="viewModel"
type="com.example.kabaddikounter.ScoreViewModel" />
</data>
<ConstraintLayout ../>
</layout>
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Attaching a ViewModel to a data binding
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
val viewModel: ScoreViewModel by viewModels()
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
val binding: ActivityMainBinding = DataBindingUtil.setContentView(this,
R.layout.activity_main)
binding.viewModel = viewModel
...
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Using a ViewModel from a data binding
In activity_main.xml:
<TextView
android:id="@+id/scoreViewA"
android:text="@{viewModel.scoreA.toString()}" />
...
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ViewModels and data binding
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
...
val binding: ActivityMainBinding = DataBindingUtil.setContentView(this,
R.layout.activity_main)
binding.plusOneButtonA.setOnClickListener {
viewModel.incrementScore(true)
binding.scoreViewA.text = viewModel.scoreA.toString()
}
}
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LiveData
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Observer design pattern
● Subject maintains list of observers to notify when state changes.
● Observers receive state changes from subject and execute
appropriate code.
● Observers can be added or removed at any time.
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Observer design pattern diagram
Observable
notify observe() notify observe()
Observer Observer
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LiveData
● A lifecycle-aware data holder that can be observed
● Wrapper that can be used with any data including lists
(for example, LiveData<Int> holds an Int)
● Often used by ViewModels to hold individual data fields
● Observers (activity or fragment) can be added or removed
○ observe(owner: LifecycleOwner, observer: Observer)
removeObserver(observer: Observer)
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LiveData versus MutableLiveData
LiveData<T> MutableLiveData<T>
● getValue() ● getValue()
● postValue(value: T)
● setValue(value: T)
T is the type of data that’s stored in LiveData or MutableLiveData.
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Use LiveData in ViewModel
class ScoreViewModel : ViewModel() {
private val _scoreA = MutableLiveData<Int>(0)
val scoreA: LiveData<Int>
get() = _scoreA
fun incrementScore(isTeamA: Boolean) {
if (isTeamA) {
_scoreA.value = _scoreA.value!! + 1
}
...
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Add an observer on LiveData
Set up click listener to increment ViewModel score:
binding.plusOneButtonA.setOnClickListener {
viewModel.incrementScore(true)
}
Create observer to update team A score on screen:
val scoreA_Observer = Observer<Int> { newValue ->
binding.scoreViewA.text = newValue.toString()
}
Add the observer onto scoreA LiveData in ViewModel:
viewModel.scoreA.observe(this, scoreA_Observer)
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Two-way data binding
● We already have two-way binding with ViewModel and
LiveData.
● Binding to LiveData in XML eliminates need for an observer in
code.
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Example layout XML
<layout>
<data>
<variable>
name="viewModel"
type="com.example.kabaddikounter.ScoreViewModel" />
</data>
<ConstraintLayout ..>
<TextView ...
android:id="@+id/scoreViewA"
android:text="@{viewModel.scoreA.toString()}" />
...
</ConstraintLayout>
</layout>
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Example Activity
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
val viewModel: ScoreViewModel by viewModels()
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
val binding: ActivityMainBinding = DataBindingUtil
.setContentView(this, R.layout.activity_main)
binding.viewModel = viewModel
binding.lifecycleOwner = this
binding.plusOneButtonA.setOnClickListener {
viewModel.incrementScore(true)
}
...
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Example ViewModel
class ScoreViewModel : ViewModel() {
private val _scoreA = MutableLiveData<Int>(0)
val scoreA : LiveData<Int>
get() = _scoreA
private val _scoreB = MutableLiveData<Int>(0)
val scoreB : LiveData<Int>
get() = _scoreB
fun incrementScore(isTeamA: Boolean) {
if (isTeamA) {
_scoreA.value = _scoreA.value!! + 1
} else {
_scoreB.value = _scoreB.value!! + 1
}
}
}
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Transform LiveData
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Manipulating LiveData with transformations
LiveData can be transformed into a new LiveData object.
● map()
● switchMap()
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Example LiveData with transformations
val result: LiveData<String> = Transformations.map(viewModel.scoreA) {
x -> if (x > 10) "A Wins" else ""
}
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Summary
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Summary
In Lesson 8, you learned how to:
● Follow good app architecture design, and the separation-of-concerns
principle to make apps more maintainable and reduce technical debt
● Create a ViewModel to hold data separately from a UI controller
● Use ViewModel with data binding to make a responsive UI with less
code
● Use observers to automatically get updates from LiveData
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Learn More
● Guide to app architecture
● Android Jetpack
● ViewModel Overview
● Android architecture sample app
● ViewModelProvider
● Lifecycle Aware Data Loading with Architecture Components
● ViewModels and LiveData: Patterns + AntiPatterns
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Pathway
Practice what you’ve learned by
completing the pathway:
Lesson 8: App architecture (UI layer)
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