BottomNavigation is an Android library that provides an implementation of the Bottom Navigation component from Material Design. It offers a customizable and easy-to-use solution for adding a bottom navigation bar to Android applications, allowing users to quickly switch between top-level views.

Pros

• Easy integration with minimal setup required
• Highly customizable appearance and behavior
• Supports both fixed and shifting modes
• Compatible with older Android versions (API 14+)

Cons

• Limited to bottom navigation use cases
• May require additional customization for complex layouts
• Not officially supported by Google (third-party library)
• Potential for conflicts with other navigation libraries

Code Examples

1. Basic setup of BottomNavigation:

val bottomNavigation: BottomNavigationView = findViewById(R.id.bottom_navigation)
bottomNavigation.setOnNavigationItemSelectedListener { item ->
    when(item.itemId) {
        R.id.action_home -> {
            // Handle home action
            true
        }
        R.id.action_search -> {
            // Handle search action
            true
        }
        R.id.action_profile -> {
            // Handle profile action
            true
        }
        else -> false
    }
}

2. Customizing the appearance:

val bottomNavigation: BottomNavigationView = findViewById(R.id.bottom_navigation)
bottomNavigation.setBackgroundColor(ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.colorPrimary))
bottomNavigation.itemIconTintList = null
bottomNavigation.itemTextColor = ContextCompat.getColorStateList(this, R.color.bottom_nav_colors)

3. Adding badges to menu items:

val bottomNavigation: BottomNavigationView = findViewById(R.id.bottom_navigation)
val badge = bottomNavigation.getOrCreateBadge(R.id.action_notifications)
badge.isVisible = true
badge.number = 99

Getting Started

1. Add the dependency to your app's build.gradle file:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.ashokvarma.android:bottom-navigation-bar:2.2.0'
}

2. Add the BottomNavigationView to your layout XML:

<com.google.android.material.bottomnavigation.BottomNavigationView
    android:id="@+id/bottom_navigation"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    app:menu="@menu/bottom_navigation_menu" />

3. Create a menu resource file (bottom_navigation_menu.xml) with your navigation items:

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_home"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_home"
        android:title="Home" />
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_search"
        android:title="Search" />
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_profile"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_profile"
        android:title="Profile" />
</menu>

4. Initialize and set up the BottomNavigationView in your activity or fragment as shown in the code examples above.