Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Android

Erick Shaffer
Erick Shaffer
203 Points

What is the benefit of using an onClickListener rather than android:onClick="onButtonClick" in the xml??

Just wondering what the benefit of making an onClickListener is rather than using the attribute onClick in the xml.

For example, in the xml

android:onClick="onButtonClick"

in Java class

public void onButtonClick(View v){ //button code goes here }

1 Answer

Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,413 Points

android:onClick does have some cons: It uses reflection so it is slower performance-wise and bypasses the usual compiler checks for type correctness. You can give it a method that different signature or a method that doesn't exist and it will compile just fine. It won't be until you tap the item in question when it crashes. The lack of any clear connection in the Java code between the method and the view can make it difficult to see what's going on. It's also the only listener you can set in XML which makes it inconsistent style-wise when using the others like OnLongClickListener, etc.