Common mistakes when working with RecyclerView?

When working with RecyclerView in Android, developers often make several common mistakes that can lead to performance issues or unexpected behaviors. Understanding these pitfalls can significantly improve your implementation.

Common Mistakes

  • Not Implementing ViewHolder Pattern: Failing to use a ViewHolder can lead to performance issues due to extensive calls to findViewById.
  • Inconsistent Item Layouts: Having different item layouts without proper handling can cause unexpected behaviors.
  • Incorrect Item Count: Returning an incorrect item count in getItemCount() can lead to crashes or blank views.
  • Not Properly Handling Data Changes: Not notifying the adapter correctly when data changes can result in stale views.
  • Heavy Operations in onBindViewHolder: Performing complex operations in this method can lead to UI jank.

Example Code

// Sample RecyclerView Adapter Implementation public class MyAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter { private List myDataSet; public static class MyViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder { public TextView textView; public MyViewHolder(View v) { super(v); textView = v.findViewById(R.id.textView); } } public MyAdapter(List myDataSet) { this.myDataSet = myDataSet; } @Override public MyViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) { View v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()) .inflate(R.layout.my_text_view, parent, false); return new MyViewHolder(v); } @Override public void onBindViewHolder(MyViewHolder holder, int position) { holder.textView.setText(myDataSet.get(position)); } @Override public int getItemCount() { return myDataSet.size(); } }

Android RecyclerView performance issues ViewHolder pattern item layouts