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Android LinearLayout Tutorial with Examples

  1. Android LinearLayout
  2. android:layout_weight
  3. android:layout_gravity
  4. android:padding
  5. LinearLayout spacing

1. Android LinearLayout

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LinearLayout is a ViewGroup that arranges the child View(s) in a single direction, either vertically or horizontally. You can specify its orientation by using the android:orientation attribute.
<!-- Horizontal LinearLayout (Default) -->
<LinearLayout
    ...
    android:orientation="horizontal">

   ...
</LinearLayout>


<!-- Vertical LinearLayout -->
<LinearLayout
    ...
    android:orientation="vertical">

   ...
</LinearLayout>
For example: Use Java code to create LinearLayout, and add child View(s) to LinearLayout:
// linearLayout = new LinearLayout(MainActivity.this);
// linearLayout.setOrientation(LinearLayout.HORIZONTAL);

LinearLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams
        = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, 0);

Button button1 = new Button(this);
button1.setText("Button");
linearLayout.addView(button1, layoutParams);

Button button2 = new Button(this);
button2.setText("Long Button");
button2.setLayoutParams(layoutParams);
linearLayout.addView(button2);

2. android:layout_weight

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android:layout_weight is an important attribute used for child View(s) of LinearLayout. It specifies how much space the child View(s) will take up in the parent View (LinearLayout) (horizontally or vertically). A layout_weight value greater than zero allows the child View to expand to fill any remaining space in the parent View. Child View(s) can be specified with a layout_weight value > 0, and then any remaining space in the parent View will be assigned to child View(s) according to their layout_weight ratio.
When all the child View(s) have android:layout_weight=0, you will see an empty space in the parent View(LinearLayout):
The child View(s)have android:layout_weight>0 will take up the free space of the parent View (LinearLayout):
The free space of the parent View (LinearLayout) will be allocated to the child View(s) in accordance with their layout_weight ratio.
The android:layout_weight attribute means the same thing in a vertical LinearLayout:

3. android:layout_gravity

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The android:layout_gravity attribute is applied to a child View to specify the relative position of the child View within the parent View (LinearLayout).
Constant in Java
Value
Description
Gravity.LEFT
left
Gravity.CENTER_HORIZONTAL
center_horizontal
Gravity.RIGHT
right
Gravity.CLIP_HORIZONTAL
clip_horizontal
Gravity.FILL_HORIZONTAL
fill_horizontal
Gravity.TOP
top
Gravity.CENTER_VERTICAL
center_vertical
Gravity.BOTTOM
bottom
Gravity.CLIP_VERTICAL
clip_vertical
Gravity.FILL_VERTICAL
fill_vertical
Gravity.START
start
Gravity.END
end
Gravity.CENTER
center
Gravity.FILL
fill

4. android:padding

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Padding is the space in LinearLayout (inside the border), and surrounds 4 sides of the content.
You can set padding for LinearLayout by using the following attributes:
  • android:padding
  • android:paddingTop
  • android:paddingRight
  • android:paddingBottom
  • android:paddingLeft
<LinearLayout
    ...
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:paddingTop="20dp"
    android:paddingRight="30dp"
    android:paddingBottom="10dp"
    android:paddingLeft="20dp">

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:text="Button" />

</LinearLayout>

5. LinearLayout spacing

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Sometimes if you would like to set the space among the child View(s) of LinearLayout, there are several ways for you to handle this:
android:layout_margin
By applying the android:layout_margin attribute to all child View(s) of LinearLayout will help set the distance between them.
* layout_margin (Java code) *
// linearLayout = new LinearLayout(MainActivity.this);
// linearLayout.setOrientation(LinearLayout.HORIZONTAL);

LinearLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams
        = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
                          LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, 0);
layoutParams.setMargins(30, 20, 30, 0);

Button button1 = new Button(this);
button1.setText("Button");
linearLayout.addView(button1, layoutParams);

Button button2 = new Button(this);
button2.setText("Long Button");
button2.setLayoutParams(layoutParams);
linearLayout.addView(button2);
Space View
Android 4.0+ (API Level 14+) supports a new type of View called Space, which helps you add a free space to the interface. You can use Space to separate the child View(s) within LinearLayout.
<LinearLayout
    ...
    android:layout_width="0dp"
    android:layout_height="200dp"
    android:background="#EFF6E7"
    android:orientation="horizontal">

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:text="Button" />

    <Space
        android:layout_width="10dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight="0" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button2"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:text="Long Button" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:text="Button" />
</LinearLayout>
* Add Space (Java code) *
// linearLayout = new LinearLayout(MainActivity.this);
// linearLayout.setOrientation(LinearLayout.HORIZONTAL);

LinearLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams
        = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, 0);

LinearLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams2
        = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(15,
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, 0);

Button button1 = new Button(this);
button1.setText("Button");
linearLayout.addView(button1, layoutParams);

// Create a Space View.
Space space = new Space(this);
space.setLayoutParams(layoutParams2);
linearLayout.addView(space);

Button button2 = new Button(this);
button2.setText("Long Button");
button2.setLayoutParams(layoutParams);
linearLayout.addView(button2);
android:divider
Android 3.0+ (API Level 11+) permits you to add a Divider between the two child View(s) in LinearLayout. Moreover, you can specify the style and color for the Divider.
* Divider *
<LinearLayout
    ...
    android:orientation="horizontal">

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:text="Button" />
  
     <!-- Divider -->
    <View
        android:id="@+id/divider"
        android:layout_width="15dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:background="?android:attr/listDivider" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button2"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:text="Long Button" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:text="Button" />
</LinearLayout>
* Add Divider (Java code) *
// linearLayout = new LinearLayout(MainActivity.this);
// linearLayout.setOrientation(LinearLayout.HORIZONTAL);

LinearLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams
        = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, 0);

LinearLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams2
        = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(15,
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, 0);

Button button1 = new Button(this);
button1.setText("Button");
linearLayout.addView(button1, layoutParams);

// Create a Divider.
View divider = new View(this);
// android:background="?android:attr/listDivider"
divider.setBackgroundResource(android.R.drawable.divider_horizontal_bright);
linearLayout.addView(divider, layoutParams2);

Button button2 = new Button(this);
button2.setText("Long Button");
button2.setLayoutParams(layoutParams);
linearLayout.addView(button2);
See more detailed article about Divider, it helps you customize Divider to suit your application:
  • Android Divider
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