Friday 12 December 2014

Get ready for Jack and Jill !!!

Android is working over new toolchain and it has introduced Jack and Jill available for testing with non-production versions of the apps, at the core of the new toolchain.

JACK - Java Android Compiler Kit

Jack is a new Android toolchain that comprises a compiler from Java programming language source to the Android dex file format. Jack has its own .jack library format and provides most tool chain features as part of a single tool: repackaging, shrinking, obfuscation and multidex.


JILL - Jack Intermediate Library Linker

Jill is a tool that translates existing .jar files to the .jack library format.


Working


With the new tool chain enabled, Jill will translate any libraries you are referencing to a new Jack library file (.jack). This prepares them to be quickly merged with other .jack files. The Android Gradle plugin and Jack collect any .jack library files, along with your source code, and compiles them into a set of dex files. During the process, Jack also handles any requested code minification. The output is then assembled into an APK file as normal. Support for multiple dex files is also included.



Jack using Gradle


Jack and Jill are available in Build Tools version 21.1.1, and greater, via the SDK Manager. Complementary Gradle and Android Studio support is also already available in the Android 1.0.0+ Gradle plugin.

Using Gradle, add useJack in your build config.

android {
    ...
    buildToolsRevision '21.1.1'
    defaultConfig {
      // Enable the experimental Jack build tools.
      useJack = true
    }
    ...
}


Official Blog: http://android-developers.blogspot.in/2014/12/hello-world-meet-our-new-experimental.html

Tool Doc: http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/jackandjill


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