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Features

Plugin Ecosystem and Extensibility

Android Studio's architecture is designed to be highly extensible, allowing developers to tailor the IDE to their specific needs through a robust plugin ecosystem. Plugins can introduce new functionalities, integrate external tools, and enhance existing features, thereby streamlining the development process.

Built-in Plugins: Essential tools integrated into Android Studio, such as Android Support, Kotlin Support, and Git Integration.

Third-Party Plugins: Popular community-driven extensions like Firebase Assistant, ButterKnife Zelezny, and SQLDelight, which expand functionality.

Developing Custom Plugins: The process of building new plugins using the IntelliJ Platform SDK and Gradle plugins for automation and customization.

Managing Plugins: Best practices for installing, updating, and optimizing plugins to maintain performance and compatibility.

Built-in Plugins

Out of the box, Android Studio includes a set of built-in plugins that support essential development tasks:

• Android Support: Provides tools and integrations specific to Android development, including project templates, wizards, and the Android SDK manager.¹⁰
• Kotlin Support: Since Kotlin became Google's preferred language for Android app development in 2019, Android Studio has integrated comprehensive support for Kotlin, facilitating seamless development experiences.¹¹
• Git Integration: Offers version control support, enabling developers to manage code repositories directly within the IDE.¹²

Third-Party Plugins

Beyond the built-in options, developers can access a vast array of third-party plugins to extend Android Studio's capabilities:

• Firebase Assistant: Simplifies the process of adding Firebase services to an app, such as analytics, authentication, and cloud messaging.¹³
• ButterKnife Zelezny: Automates the generation of view bindings for Android's ButterKnife library, reducing boilerplate code.
• SQLDelight: Assists in generating type-safe APIs from SQL statements, streamlining database interactions within Android applications.

These plugins, among many others, are available through the JetBrains Plugin Repository and can be easily installed via Android Studio's plugin manager.¹⁴

Developing Custom Plugins

For specialized requirements, developers have the option to create custom plugins:

• IntelliJ Platform SDK: Android Studio is built upon JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA, and developers can utilize the IntelliJ Platform SDK to develop plugins that extend the IDE's functionality. ¹⁵
• Gradle Plugins: Custom Gradle plugins can automate build processes, manage dependencies, and perform other build-related tasks, enhancing the efficiency of project workflows.

Comprehensive documentation and community resources are available to guide developers through the process of plugin development, ensuring that even complex extensions can be implemented effectively. ¹⁶

Managing Plugins

Effective management of plugins is crucial to maintain an optimal development environment:

• Installation and updates: Plugins can be installed and updated directly through Android Studio's plugin manager, accessible via the settings menu. ¹⁷
• Compatibility considerations: It's important to ensure that plugins are compatible with the specific version of Android Studio in use to prevent potential conflicts or issues. ¹⁸
• Performance impact: While plugins add valuable features, an excessive number can lead to increased resource consumption. Regularly reviewing and disabling unnecessary plugins can help maintain IDE performance.

By leveraging the plugin ecosystem, developers can customize Android Studio to align with their workflows, integrate preferred tools, and enhance productivity, making it a versatile environment for Android application development.

The following features are provided in the current stable version:¹⁹²⁰

• Gradle-based build support
• Android-specific refactoring and quick fixes
• Lint tools to catch performance, usability, version compatibility and other problems
• ProGuard integration and app-signing capabilities
• Template-based wizards to create common Android designs and components
• A rich layout editor that allows users to drag-and-drop UI components, option to preview layouts on multiple screen configurations²¹
• Support for building Android Wear apps
• Built-in support for Google Cloud Platform, that enables integration with Firebase Cloud Messaging (Earlier 'Google Cloud Messaging') and Google App Engine²²
• Android Virtual Device (Emulator) to run and debug apps in the Android studio.

Android Studio supports all the same programming languages of IntelliJ (and CLion) e.g. Java, C++, and with more extensions, such as Go;²³ and Android Studio 3.0 or later supports Kotlin,²⁴ and "Android Studio includes support for using a number of Java 11+ APIs without requiring a minimum API level for your app".²⁵ External projects backport some Java 9 features.²⁶ While IntelliJ states that Android Studio supports all released Java versions, and Java 12, it's not clear to what level Android Studio supports Java versions up to Java 12 (the documentation mentions partial Java 8 support). At the very least some new language features up to Java 12 are also usable in Android.²⁷

Once an app has been compiled with Android Studio, it can be published on the Google Play Store. The application has to be in line with the Google Play Store developer content policy.

Version history

The following is a list of Android Studio's major releases:²⁸

System requirements

These features includes requirements for IDE + Android SDK + Android Emulator.⁴⁷

• Windows: x86_64 CPU architecture; 2nd generation Intel Core or newer, or AMD CPU with support for a Windows Hypervisor;
• Mac OS: ARM-based chips, or 2nd generation Intel Core or newer with support for Hypervisor.Framework;
• Linux: x86_64 CPU architecture; 2nd generation Intel Core or newer, or AMD processor with support for AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) and SSSE3;
• Windows: CPU with UG (unrestricted guest) support;
• Intel Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager (HAXM) 6.2.1 or later (HAXM 7.2.0 or later recommended).

The use of hardware acceleration has additional requirements on Windows and Linux:

• Intel processor on Windows or Linux: Intel processor with support for Intel VT-x, Intel EM64T (Intel 64), and Execute Disable (XD) Bit functionality;
• AMD processor on Linux: AMD processor with support for AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) and Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 (SSSE3);
• AMD processor on Windows: Android Studio 3.2 or higher and Windows 10 April 2018 release or higher for Windows Hypervisor Platform (WHPX) functionality.

For an attached webcam to work with Android 8.1 (API level 27) and higher system images, it must have the capability to capture 720p frames.⁴⁸

External links

• Official homepage at developer.android.com

References

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