path: root/docs/html/training/material/get-started.jd

page.title=Getting Started

@jd:body

<div id="tb-wrapper">
<div id="tb">
<h2>This lesson teaches you to</h2>
<ol>
  <li><a href="#ApplyTheme">Apply the Material Theme</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Layouts">Design Your Layouts</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Depth">Specify Elevation in Your Views</a></li>
  <li><a href="#ListsCards">Create Lists and Cards</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Animations">Customize Your Animations</a></li>
</ol>
<h2>You should also read</h2>
<ul>
  <li><a href="http://www.google.com/design/spec">Material design specification</a></li>
  <li><a href="{@docRoot}design/material/index.html">Material design on Android</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>


<p>To create apps with material design:</p>

<ol>
  <li style="margin-bottom:10px">
    Review the <a href="http://www.google.com/design/spec">material design specification</a>.</li>
  <li style="margin-bottom:10px">
    Apply the material <strong>theme</strong> to your app.</li>
  <li style="margin-bottom:10px">
    Create your <strong>layouts</strong> following material design guidelines.</li>
  <li style="margin-bottom:10px">
    Specify the <strong>elevation</strong> of your views to cast shadows.</li>
  <li style="margin-bottom:10px">
    Use system <strong>widgets</strong> for lists and cards.</li>
  <li style="margin-bottom:10px">
    Customize the <strong>animations</strong> in your app.</li>
</ol>

<h3>Maintain backward compatibility</h3>

<p>You can add many material design features to your app while maintaining compatibility with
versions of Android earlier than 5.0. For more information, see
<a href="{@docRoot}training/material/compatibility.html">Maintaining Compatibility</a>.</p>

<h3>Update your app with material design</h3>

<p>To update an existing app to incorporate material design, update your layouts following
material design guidelines. Also make sure to incorporate depth, touch feedback, and
animations.</p>

<h3>Create new apps with material design</h3>

<p>If you are creating a new app with material design features, the <a
href="http://www.google.com/design/spec">material design guidelines</a> provide you with a
cohesive design framework. Follow those guidelines and use the new functionality in the Android
framework to design and develop your app.</p>


<h2 id="ApplyTheme">Apply the Material Theme</h2>

<p>To apply the material theme in your app, specify a style that inherits from
<code>android:Theme.Material</code>:</p>

<pre>
&lt;!-- res/values/styles.xml -->
&lt;resources>
  &lt;!-- your theme inherits from the material theme -->
  &lt;style name="AppTheme" parent="android:Theme.Material">
    &lt;!-- theme customizations -->
  &lt;/style>
&lt;/resources>
</pre>

<p>The material theme provides updated system widgets that let you set their color palette and
default animations for touch feedback and activity transitions. For more details, see
<a href="{@docRoot}training/material/theme.html">Using the Material Theme</a>.</p>


<h2 id="Layouts">Design Your Layouts</h2>

<p>In addition to applying and customizing the material theme, your layouts should conform to
the <a href="http://www.google.com/design/spec">material design guidelines</a>. When you design
your layouts, pay special attention to the following:</p>

<ul>
<li>Baseline grids</li>
<li>Keylines</li>
<li>Spacing</li>
<li>Touch target size</li>
<li>Layout structure</li>
</ul>


<h2 id="Depth">Specify Elevation in Your Views</h2>

<p>Views can cast shadows, and the elevation value of a view
determines the size of its shadow and its drawing order. To set the elevation of a view, use the
<code>android:elevation</code> attribute in your layouts:</p>

<pre>
&lt;TextView
    android:id="&#64;+id/my_textview"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="&#64;string/next"
    android:background="&#64;color/white"
    android:elevation="5dp" />
</pre>

<p>The new <code>translationZ</code> property lets you create animations that reflect temporary
changes in the elevation of a view. Elevation changes can be useful when
<a href="{@docRoot}training/material/animations.html#ViewState">responding to touch
gestures</a>.</p>

<p>For more details, see <a href="{@docRoot}training/material/shadows-clipping.html">Defining
Shadows and Clipping Views</a>.</p>


<h2 id="ListsCards">Create Lists and Cards</h2>

<p>{@link android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView} is a more pluggable version of {@link
android.widget.ListView} that supports different layout types and provides performance improvements.
{@link android.support.v7.widget.CardView} lets you show pieces of information inside cards with
a consistent look across apps. The following code example demonstrates how to include a
{@link android.support.v7.widget.CardView} in your layout:</p>

<pre>
&lt;android.support.v7.widget.CardView
    android:id="&#64;+id/card_view"
    android:layout_width="200dp"
    android:layout_height="200dp"
    card_view:cardCornerRadius="3dp">
    ...
&lt;/android.support.v7.widget.CardView>
</pre>

<p>For more information, see <a href="{@docRoot}training/material/lists-cards.html">Creating Lists
and Cards</a>.</p>


<h2 id="Animations">Customize Your Animations</h2>

<p>Android 5.0 (API level 21) includes new APIs to create custom animations in your app.
For example, you can enable activity transitions and define an exit transition inside an
activity:</p>

<pre>
public class MyActivity extends Activity {

    &#64;Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        // enable transitions
        getWindow().requestFeature(Window.FEATURE_CONTENT_TRANSITIONS);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_my);
    }

    public void onSomeButtonClicked(View view) {
        getWindow().setExitTransition(new Explode());
        Intent intent = new Intent(this, MyOtherActivity.class);
        startActivity(intent,
                      ActivityOptions
                          .makeSceneTransitionAnimation(this).toBundle());
    }
}
</pre>

<p>When you start another activity from this activity, the exit transition is activated.</p>

<p>To learn more about the new animation APIs, see <a
href="{@docRoot}training/material/animations.html">Defining Custom Animations</a>.</p>