title: Pattern "One activity, multiple views": Advantages and disadvantages
body: <p>This pattern is similar to the pattern <em>Main Servlet</em> (the Front Controller) that is used for developing web applications.</p>
  
  <p>The main idea of this pattern: we have one Activity that manages multiple views and this activity is responsible for representing current content. Not all views need functional of activity (e.g. life-cycle methods) so the main question is: <strong>if I can go without activity why do I have to use it?</strong></p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>I have found the following disadvantages of using this pattern:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>Official source doesn't recommend to <a href="http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/design/seamlessness.html#multiple-activities" rel="noreferrer">Overload a Single Activity Screen</a>
  but they don't explain why.</p></li>
  <li><p>We cannot use <code>TabActivity</code>, <code>ListActivity</code>, <code>MapActivity</code>. But there are some tricks to go without them.</p></li>
  <li>If different screens have different menu it's a problem to make that without activities.</li>
  <li>It is necessary to keep history by ourselves. But it's not so difficult to develop.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>I have found the following advantages of using this pattern:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>It's faster to change the content of current activity than to start another activity</li>
  <li>We are free to manage history as we want</li>
  <li>If we have only one activity-context it's simpler to find and solve problems with memory leaks</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>What do you think about this pattern ? Could you provide any other advantages/disadvantages ?</p>