In this Android Video Tutorial I have explained the major differences between RecyclerView and the ListView and also covered the part how to make RecyclerView in three steps.

you’re going to experience the power of RecyclerView in action and learn:
1. The purpose of a RecyclerView 
2. The components that make up a RecyclerView

Creating the RecyclerView
To create the RecyclerView, you’ll break the work into four parts:
1. Declare the RecyclerView in an activity layout and reference it in your activity Java file. 
2. Create a custom item XML layout for your RecyclerView to use for its items. 
3. Attach the adapter to the RecyclerView where there is view holder for your view items, hook up the data source of the RecyclerView and handle the view logic by creating a RecyclerView Adapter. 

You can also get information see the blog at 
http://findnerd.com/account#url=/list/view/Add-items-to-RecyclerView-at-runtime/9202/

For any questions feel free to post in comments section