User guide |

## 1: Understanding layouts

The purpose of a "layout" is to manage the positioning of one or more user-interface components. This means that instead of worrying about the exact position of each user interface component you instead worry about the relative positioning of them; are they arranged in a vertical list, horizontal list, a grid pattern, etc.

The best way to understand what layouts are and why they are a good user-interface design tool is to see some examples. The sections below go through the basics of building an interface using layouts and how to build complex interfaces using them.

### Section contents:

- 1.1. Layout basics
- 1.2. Types of layout
- 1.3. Sizes and units
- 1.4. Layout heirarchies
- 1.5. Why use layouts?

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