Defining and inflating a layout

When using the Android Studio wizard to create a new project, it automatically creates the res/layout/activity_main.xml file (as shown in the following screenshot). It then inflates the XML file in the onCreate() callback with setContentView(R.layout.activity_main).

For this recipe, we will create two, slightly different layouts and switch between them with a button.

Getting ready

Create a new project in Android Studio and call it InflateLayout. Once the project is created, expand the res/layout folder so we can edit the activity_main.xml file.

How to do it...

1. Edit the res/layout/activity_main.xml file so it includes a button as defined here:

   <Button
       android:id="@+id/buttonLeft"
       android:layout_width="wrap_content"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:text="Left Button"
       android:layout_centerVertical="true"
       android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
       android:onClick="onClickLeft"/>

2. Now make a copy of activity_main.xml and call it...