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 layout)
click listeners)

● 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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