Is deprecated word the only difference between fill_parent and match_parent

Question

I found that both fill_parent and match_parent means the same thing

• fill_parent means that the view wants to be as big as its parent, minus the parent's padding, if any.
• match_parent means that the view wants to be as big as its parent, minus the parent's padding, if any.

The only difference that I found is that fill_parent is deprecated starting from API Level 8 and is replaced by match_parent

However, I didn't notice any difference between these two. If both are the same then, why is fill_parent deprecated. Can anyone explain any differences between these two except for the fact that one is deprecated and the other isn't?

I have gone through http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/ViewGroup.LayoutParams.html

Answer 1

As you said they are exact the same. As Romain Guy said, they have changed the name because "fill_parent" was confusing for developers. As matter of the fact, "fill_parent" does not fill the remaining space (for that you use the weight attribute) but it takes as much space as its layout parent. That's why the new name is "match_parent".