In Droidio (Android Studio) at least (I don't know about Eclipse, but it's probably the case with ItelliJ Idea, too, as Droidio is based on it), when you create a new Activity, a corresponding Layout file is also created. By default, it is tightly coupled to the Activity by means of two properties, namely the "xmlns:tools" and "tools:context" lines below:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingLeft="4dip"
android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
tools:context="hhs.app.PlatypusActivity">
This seems odd/unnecessary to me, as the Activity is also automagically bound to the corresponding Layout in the onCreate() method of its *.java file this way:
setContentView(R.layout.activity_platypus);
Is this a case of simply being "thorough" (wearing belts and suspenders), or is it a case of too-tight coupling? The explicit wiring on the Layout side (to the Controller/Activity) has a bit of a code smell to me. If I remove the two questionable lines from the xml ( "xmlns:tools" and "tools:context") it still works fine, so I don't understand what purpose they serve.
Will I live to rue the millisecond I semi-decoupled the Activity/Layout (Controller/View)?
