Bringing in the Android Design Support Library

In the recent release of the Android Support Library (May 2015), there is now a Design Support Library that implements more of the Material Design elements, e.g., snack bar.

Implementing the Snack Bar

First, we need to bring in the Design Support Library by adding the following to the dependencies in Grade Scripts > build.gradle (Module: app)

compile 'com.android.support:design:22.2.0'

Then we need to add the snack bar text to app > res > values > strings.xml:

<string name="snackbar_text">Hello</string>

Then we need to add a CoordinatorLayout (new in the Design Support Library) to app > res > layout > activity_main.xml:

<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
    android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
    android:id="@+id/snackbarPosition">
</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

Finally, we implement the snack bar when clicking the "Hello" menu item in the toolbar in the MainActivity class.

if (id == R.id.action_hello) {
    Snackbar
            .make(findViewById(R.id.snackbarPosition), R.string.snackbar_text, Snackbar.LENGTH_LONG)
            .show();
    return true;
}