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10 Reasons Why Jetpack Compose is better than XML for Android UI Development.

jetpack compose xml

It’s time to switch to Jetpack Compose. Android development has evolved significantly over the years. Traditionally, developers use XML for designing user interfaces. While XML is great, it comes with certain limitations—especially in a world where flexibility, reusability, and speed are essential. That’s when enter Jetpack Compose—It’s a toolkit provided by Google for building native UI in a declarative way. Jetpack Compose ensures a simple and beautiful UI development, reducing boilerplate, and improving code maintainability.

In this blog, we’ll dive into 10 key reasons why Jetpack Compose is better than XML for Android UI development, especially for modern Android apps in 2025.

Jetpack Compose in 2025

The Android development industry is rapidly adopting Jetpack Compose over XML due to its modern, declarative approach and seamless integration with Kotlin. Nowadays, companies are shifting to Compose for its ability to speed up development, reduce boilerplate, and improve UI consistency across devices. Major tech firms, startups, and open-source projects alike are embracing Compose in production apps, driven by its powerful state management, reusability, and built-in tools. As Google continues to invest heavily in Compose with frequent updates and official support, it’s quickly becoming the industry standard for building responsive, scalable, and maintainable Android UIs. XML is increasingly seen as heritage.

10 Reasons Why Jetpack Compose is Better than XML

  1. Declarative UI Programming
  2. Eliminates the Need for XML and findViewById()
  3. Better State Management
  4. Reusable UI Components
  5. Simplified UI Logic with Kotlin
  6. Built-in Support for Animations
  7. Improved Preview and Live Editing
  8. Single Source of Truth for UI
  9. Less Boilerplate Code
  10. Faster Prototyping and Development Time

1. Declarative UI Programming

One of the most rebellious aspects of Jetpack Compose is its declarative programming model. Instead of defining what the UI should be with XML and critical updates, Compose allows developers to describe the desired state of the UI and let the framework handle updates.

For example:

Text(text = if (isUserLoggedIn) "Welcome!" else "Please log in")

This means your UI updates automatically in response to circumstances, resulting in more predictable and bug-free interfaces.

2. Eliminates the Need for XML and findViewById()

With Compose, you write all your UI in Kotlin, eliminating the need for XML layouts. You no longer have to declare views in XML and then wrap them manually in the Activity or Fragment using findViewById() or ViewBinding.

This not only reduces boilerplate but also makes the codebase cleaner and easier to manage, especially in large projects.

3. Better State Management

Compose is state-aware by design. It allows the UI to automatically react to state changes using remember, mutableStateOf, and other state management APIs.

For instance:

var count by remember { mutableStateOf(0) }

Button(onClick = { count++ }) {
    Text("Count: $count")
}

In XML, updating UI based on state typically requires manual effort, including adding observers and calling invalidate() or notifyDataSetChanged(). Compose makes this process seamless and reactive.

4. Reusable UI Components

Compose promotes creating reusable, composable functions. Each UI element can be extracted into a composable function that accepts parameters and behaves like any other function in Kotlin.

Example:

@Composable
fun GreetingCard(name: String) {
    Text(text = "Hello, $name!")
}

These reusable components make your code modular, testable, and easy to maintain, unlike XML where code reuse often requires custom views or includes.

5. Simplified UI Logic with Kotlin

Since everything in Compose is written in Kotlin, you can take full advantage of Kotlin features such as lambdas, coroutines, extension functions, and sealed classes. This allows you to manage UI logic in a more robust and expressive way than you can in XML or Java.

You no longer need to juggle between XML attributes and Java methods—you can build and control your UI using one consistent language which is Kotlin.

6. Built-in Support for Animations

Jetpack Compose offers intuitive and declarative animation APIs out of the box. Creating animations like fade-ins, scaling, or transitions is far easier compared to XML or imperative animation APIs.

Example:

val alpha by animateFloatAsState(if (isVisible) 1f else 0f)

Box(modifier = Modifier.alpha(alpha))

No need to manage AnimatorSet or XML animation files. You write animation logic inline with your UI logic—leading to cleaner and more understandable code.

7. Improved Preview and Live Editing

Compose offers a Preview annotation that lets you see UI components in Android Studio without running the app.

@Preview
@Composable
fun PreviewCard() {
    GreetingCard("Preview User")
}

This promotes design and testing by giving instant visual feedback. In contrast, XML previews can be messy, buggy, or not reflect runtime conditions accurately.

8. Single Source of Truth for UI

With Compose, the UI is driven by a single source of truth—your Kotlin state. This makes the app’s behavior more predictable, testable, and easier to debug.

You no longer have to sync XML views with backend logic or manually track UI updates—Compose automatically updates the UI based on state.

9. Less Boilerplate Code

Compose drastically reduces the amount of boilerplate code. You don’t need adapters, XML files, layout inflaters, or view holders anymore.

Consider how much effort it takes to create a RecyclerView in XML versus Compose:

In Compose:

LazyColumn {
    items(userList) { user ->
        UserCard(user)
    }
}

You write less and achieve more—freeing up time to focus on app features rather than framework quirks, isn’t that great?

10. Faster Prototyping and Development Time

Because of the declarative model, reusable components, integrated preview, and minimal boilerplate, development with Jetpack Compose is faster.

Building UIs is more intuitive, and changes can be tested and previewed in real-time. This makes Compose especially great for startups, rapid prototyping, and agile teams.

Conclusion

Jetpack Compose is a game-changer for Android development. It modernizes UI development by offering a declarative, reactive, and Kotlin-first approach that simplifies everything from UI creation to animation and state management.

Here’s a quick recap of why Compose is better than XML:

  • You write less code and achieve more.
  • Your UI reacts to changes automatically.
  • You work in a single language (Kotlin) with unified tools.
  • You prototype and ship features faster.

If you’re still using XML, now is a great time to explore Jetpack Compose. While it’s still evolving, it’s the future of Android UI development—and it’s already powerful enough to handle production apps.

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