Is it advisable to use LinearLayout inside ConstraintLayout in Android?

I am new to ConstraintLayout in Android and newbie to Android too. I have a question. Is it advisable to use LinearLayout inside ConstraintLayout? For example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.constraint.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"
    app:srcCompat="@drawable/landing_screen"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context="com.braigolabs.braigo.landing.LandingActivity">

    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/imageView"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:scaleType="centerCrop"
        app:srcCompat="@drawable/landing_screen"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="1.0"
        app:layout_constraintHorizontal_bias="1.0"
        tools:layout_constraintTop_creator="1"
        tools:layout_constraintRight_creator="1"
        tools:layout_constraintBottom_creator="1"
        tools:layout_constraintLeft_creator="1"/>

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        tools:layout_editor_absoluteX="0dp"
        tools:layout_editor_absoluteY="51dp">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textView"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginEnd="66dp"
            android:layout_marginStart="66dp"
            android:gravity="center"
            android:text="@string/login_welcome_braigolabs"                android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.AppCompat.Large"
            tools:layout_editor_absoluteX="93dp"
            tools:layout_editor_absoluteY="403dp"/>

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/login_button"
            style="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Button.Colored"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:elevation="2dp"
            android:text="@string/login_login_button_title"
            android:textAllCaps="false"
            tools:layout_editor_absoluteX="116dp"
            tools:layout_editor_absoluteY="543dp"/>
    </LinearLayout>
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>

Also curious to know how popular is the ConstraintLayout among the developers?

As of the 2.0.0-alpha5 release of the constraintlayout library, it's now possible to declare a Flow virtual layout element within your ConstraintLayout which (as the name suggests) determines how referenced items are to flow (e.g. vertically, horizontally) within the ConstraintLayout. So it's no longer necessary to declare a LinearLayout within your ConstraintLayout.

For example, if you wanted items within your ConstraintLayout to flow vertically, you'd do so like this:

<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView1"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="I am the first TextView" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView2"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="I am the second TextView" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView3"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="I am the third TextView" />

    <androidx.constraintlayout.helper.widget.Flow
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        app:constraint_referenced_ids="textView1,textView2,textView3"
        app:flow_horizontalAlign="start"
        app:flow_verticalGap="8dp"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

You can play around with the app:flow_ attributes in the Flow element to achieve different flow behaviour. For more information about the Flow element, refer to the release notes here. For an example, see here.

Is it advisable to use LinearLayout inside ConstraintLayout in Android?

2 Answers