[FIXED] Android Studio "Function invocation 'Button(...) expected"

Issue

I am a novice at android studio and I am trying to make a simple calculator that takes a string and returns a value.
The issue is that when writing the code to initialize a "Button" object, it believes I am trying to call a function. It shows an error that says that:

Function invocation 'Button(...) expected

But I am not trying to call a function for button just make a Button object.

This is my main activity file:

package com.example.myfirstcalc

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.Button;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;



class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        Button calcBtn =  (Button) findViewById(R.id.calculateBtn);
    }
}

This is the activity_main.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/expressionEditText"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="124dp"
        android:ems="10"
        android:hint="Enter an expression"
        android:inputType="textPersonName"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.0" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/calculateBtn"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Calculate"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintHorizontal_bias="0.498"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/expressionEditText"
        app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.089" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Result"
        android:textSize="30sp"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/calculateBtn"
        app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.124" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

Solution

The problem is due to incorrect syntax. You are mixing the syntax of Java and Kotlin

To write it correctly in Kotlin, change the line:

Button calcBtn =  (Button) findViewById(R.id.calculateBtn);

to:

val calcBtn =  findViewById(R.id.calculateBtn) as Button

To know basic information about Android applications in Kotlin see here. To learn the basic syntax of Kotlin, visit here.

Answered By - cse
Answer Checked By - David Goodson (JavaFixing Volunteer)