What is Gradle in Android Studio?
In addition to being the official integrated development environment (IDE) for Android app development, Android Studio has been evolving consistently to accelerate development of variety of apps. The latest version of Android Studio allows developers to write applications in two robust programming languages — Java and Kotlin. Also, it comes with several new features to accelerate development of Android Instant apps and Android Things apps. The developers can further build a variety of Android apps efficiently by integrating the IDE with various plug-ins and tools.
Android Studio even allows developers to take advantage of a robust automated build toolkit like Gradle. In addition to supporting multiple programming languages, Gradle also facilitates continuous app delivery and app delivery automation by providing a set of tools and features. The developers can take advantage of the Android plug-in for Gradle to automate and manage build process more efficiently. They even have option to define custom build processes with their own resources and code. The custom build processes help developers to configure and manage Android app development more efficiently.
Overview of Important Features and Tools Provided by Gradle
Provides First Class Supports to Multiple IDEs
While using Android Studio, the developers can use Gradle as an automated built toolkit. But Gradle supports several widely used programming languages and platforms. It even provides first class support to widely used IDEs like Eclipse, NetBeans and Idea, in addition to Android Studio. The developers can integrate Gradle with other IDEs seamlessly through specific plug-ins. Hence, they run Gradle as a command-line environment independent of Android Studio.
Adds Several Features to Android Studio
The build system used by Android Studio is developed based on Gradle. The developers can integrate Gradle with the IDE seamlessly through Android plug-in for Gradle. The plug-in enables programmers to initiate and manage various Gradle tasks directly from Android Studio. However, the developers still need to update the plug-in separately to avail the features provided by the latest version of Gradle. Each time the developers update Android Studio, they will receive a prompt to update Android plug-in for Gradle automatically.
Simplifies Custom Build Configuration
Each Android project is managed by Gradle build system automatically. The tools provided by Gradle further make it easier for developers to configure custom build processes. They can even use the robust build toolkit to create and configure custom build without making changes to the source code base of the app. The Gradle build scripts are further generated automatically each time a new project in created in Android Studio. The developers can even accelerate custom build configuration by running Gradle in a number of ways.
Multiple Options for Performing Gradle Tasks
The Gradle runtime provided by Android Studio enables developers to take advantage of the robust toolkit without additional installation. The developers even have option to run Gradle in a number of ways while using Android Studio. Android Studio allows developers to launch Gradle simply by pressing the run button. Once Gradle is launched, the developers can trigger the required Gradle tasks. At the same time, the developers can also use a command line interface to run Gradle and perform common Gradle tasks. Many Android developers find it easier to perform Gradle task by running various commands.
Supports Complex Development Scenarios
Gradle accelerates development of a variety of Android applications by supporting simple as well as complex development scenarios. The multi-distribution tools provided by the build system enable developers to customize the same app for different types of devices and according to varied business requirements. Also, the multi-apk tool provided by Gradle makes it easier for programmers to create multiple apks by targeting various device types and groups. The developers can further reduce development time by reusing parts of the code across builds.
Supports Different Build Types and Flavors
While developing Android apps, developers have option to choose from two build types — debug and release. They also have option to build a variety of flavors of build for each of these build-types. Gradle supports multiple build types and flavors. It even simplified development and management of different flavors of the same applications. Hence, it becomes easier for programmers to define a customized version of the Android app through a specific flavor. However, Gradle still allows developers to reuse the same code and resources across multiple build flavors.
Automatically Removes Unused Resources
Gradle helps Android app developers to manage project dependencies more efficiently by dividing the dependencies into two broad categories — remote and local. While performing a build, the resources located on the local computer can be categorized as local dependencies and the resources stored in remote servers can be categorized as remote dependencies. Gradle further boosts the performance of the Android app by removing unused resources from libraries and unnecessary Java files automatically at build time. The resource shrinking feature helps developers to reduce the size of Android apps significantly.
Supports ProGuard
In addition to helping developers to reduce the size of Android apps, Gradle further supports ProGuard — the built-in code and resource shrinking tool provided by Android Studio. The developers can take advantage of ProGuard to remove used classes, methods, fields and attributes from the packaged Android app. Also, ProGuard helps developers to prevent reverse engineering by optimizing Java bytecode. As Gradle supports ProGuard it becomes easier for programmers to shrink app code and resources without putting extra time and effort.
On the whole, the mobile app developers can use Gradle as a robust build toolkit to accelerate Android app development. They can integrate Gradle seamlessly with Android Studio through a plug-in. They can even update the plug-in to avail the new features provided by the latest version of Gradle. Each updated version of Android Studio even requires developers to keep the Android plug-in for Gradle up to date.
