path: root/docs/html/sdk/installing/studio-build.jd

page.title=Building Your Project with Gradle

@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">
<h2>In this document</h2>
<ol>
    <li><a href="#overviewBuild">Overview of the Build System</a>
        <ol>
            <li><a href="#buildConf">Build configuration</a></li>
            <li><a href="#buildConv">Build by convention</a></li>
            <li><a href="#projectModules">Projects and modules</a></li>
            <li><a href="#dependencies">Dependencies</a></li>
            <li><a href="#buildTasks">Build tasks</a></li>
            <li><a href="#gradleWrapper">The Gradle wrapper</a></li>
        </ol>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#creatingBuilding">Create and Build a Project</a>
        <ol>
            <li><a href="#createProject">Create a project</a></li>
            <li><a href="#projectStructure">Project structure</a></li>
            <li><a href="#addLibModule">Add a library module</a></li>
            <li><a href="#buildProject">Build the project</a></li>
            <li><a href="#buildCmd">Build from the command line</a></li>
        </ol>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#configBuild">Configure the Build</a>
        <ol>
            <li><a href="#buildFileBasics">Build file basics</a></li>
            <li><a href="#declareDeps">Declare dependencies</a></li>
            <li><a href="#runProguard">Run ProGuard</a></li>
            <li><a href="#configureSigning">Configure signing settings</a></li>
            <li><a href="#workBuildVariants">Work with build variants</a></li>
        </ol>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#reference">Reference</a></li>
</ol>
<h2>See also</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/studio.html">
Getting Started with Android Studio</a></li>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/studio-tips.html">
Android Studio Tips and Tricks</a></li>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/migrate.html">
Migrating from Eclipse</a></li>
</div>
</div>

<a class="notice-developers-video"
href="https://developers.google.com/events/io/sessions/324603352">
<div>
    <h3>Video</h3>
    <p>What's New in Android Developer Tools</p>
</div>
</a>

<p>The Android Studio build system is the toolkit you use to build, test, run and package
your apps. The build system is independent from Android Studio, so you can invoke it from Android
Studio or from the command line. After you write your application, you can use the features
of the build system to:</p>

<ul>
    <li>Customize, configure, and extend the build process.</li>
    <li>Create multiple APKs for your app with different features using the same project.</li>
    <li>Reuse code and resources.</li>
</ul>

<p>The flexibility of the Android Studio build system enables you to achieve all of this without
modifying your app's core project files.</p>


<h2 id="overviewBuild">Overview of the Build System</h2>

<p>The Android Studio build system consists of an Android plugin for <em>Gradle</em>.
<a href="http://www.gradle.org/">Gradle</a> is an advanced build toolkit that manages dependencies
and allows you to define custom build logic. Many software projects use Gradle to manage their
builds. The Android plugin for Gradle does not depend on Android Studio, although Android Studio
is fully integrated with it. This means that:</p>

<ul>
    <li>You can build your Android apps from the command line on your machine or on machines
        where Android Studio is not installed (such as continuous integration servers).</li>
    <li>You can build your Android apps from Android Studio with the same custom build
        configuration and logic as when you build from the command line.</li>
</ul>

<p>The output of the build is the same whether you are building a project from the command line,
on a remote machine, or using Android Studio.</p>

<h3 id="buildConf">Build configuration</h3>

<p>The build configuration for your project is defined inside <em>Gradle build files</em>,
which are plain text files that use the syntax and options from Gradle and the Android plugin
to configure the following aspects of your build:</p>

<ul>
    <li><em>Build variants</em>. The build system can generate multiple APKs with different
        configurations for the same project. This is useful when you want to build different
        versions of your application without having to create a separate project for each of
        them.</li>
    <li><em>Dependencies</em>. The build system manages project dependencies and supports
        dependencies from your local filesystem and from remote repositories. This prevents you
        from having to search, download, and copy binary packages for your dependencies into your
        project directory.</li>
    <li><em>Manifest entries</em>. The build system enables you to specify values for some
        elements of the manifest file in the build configuration. These new values override the
        existing values in the manifest file. This is useful if you want to generate multiple APKs
        for your project where each of them has a different package name, minimum SDK version, or
        target SDK version.</li>
    <li><em>Signing</em>. The build system enables you to specify signing settings in the build
        configuration, and it can sign your APKs during the build process.</li>
    <li><em>ProGuard</em>. The build system enables you to specify a different
        <a href="{@docRoot}tools/help/proguard.html">ProGuard</a> rules
        file for each build variant. The build system can run ProGuard to obfuscate your classes
        during the build process.</li>
    <li><em>Testing</em>. The build system generates a test APK from the test sources in your
        project, so you do not have to create a separate test project. The build system can run
        your tests during the build process.</li>
</ul>

<p>Gradle build files use <em>Groovy</em> syntax.
<a href="http://groovy.codehaus.org/">Groovy</a> is a dynamic language that you can use to
define custom build logic and to interact with the Android-specific elements provided by the
Android plugin for Gradle.</p>

<h3 id="buildConv">Build by convention</h3>

<p>The Android Studio build system assumes <em>sensible defaults</em> for the project structure
and other build options. If your project adheres to these conventions, your Gradle build files are
very simple. When some these conventions do not apply to your project, the flexibility of the
build system allows you to configure almost every aspect of the build process. For example, if
the sources for your project are located in a different directory than the default, you can
specify this location in the build file.</p>

<h3 id="projectModules">Projects and modules</h3>

<p>A <em>project</em> in Android Studio represents a complete Android app. Android Studio
projects consist of one or more modules. A <em>module</em> is a component of your app that you can
build, test, or debug independently. Modules contain the source code and resources for your app.
Android Studio projects contain three kinds of modules:</p>

<ul>
    <li><em>Java library modules</em> contain reusable code. The build system generates a
        JAR package for Java library modules.</li>
    <li><em>Android library modules</em> contain reusable Android-specific code and resources.
        The build system generates an AAR (Android ARchive) package for library modules.</li>
    <li><em>Android application modules</em> contain application code and may depend on library
        modules, although many Android apps consists of only one application module. The build
        system generates an APK package for application modules.</li>
</ul>

<p>Android Studio projects contain a top-level Gradle build file that lists all the modules in
the project, and each module contains its own Gradle build file.</p>

<h3 id="dependencies">Dependencies</h3>

<p>The Android Studio build system manages project dependencies and supports module dependencies,
local binary dependencies, and remote binary dependencies.</p>

<dl>
    <dt><em>Module Dependencies</em></dt>
    <dd><p>A project module can include in its build file a list of other modules it depends on.
        When you build this module, the build system assembles and includes the required
        modules.</p></dd>
    <dt><em>Local Dependencies</em></dt>
    <dd><p>If you have binary archives in your local filesystem that a module depends on, such as
        JAR files, you can declare these dependencies in the build file for that
        module.</p></dd>
    <dt><em>Remote Dependencies</em></dt>
    <dd><p>When some of your dependencies are available in a remote repository, you do not have
        to download them and copy them into your project. The Android Studio build system supports
        remote <em>Maven</em> dependencies. <a href="http://maven.apache.org/">Maven</a> is a
        popular software project management tool that helps organize project dependencies using
        repositories.</p>
        <p>Many popular software libraries and tools are available in public Maven repositories.
        For these dependencies you only have to specify their Maven coordinates, which uniquely
        identify each element in a remote repository. The format for Maven coordinates used in the
        build system is <code>group:name:version</code>. For example, the Maven coordinates for
        version 16.0.1 of the Google Guava libraries are
        <code>com.google.guava:guava:16.0.1</code>.</p>
        <p>The <a href="http://search.maven.org">Maven Central Repository</a> is widely used to
        distribute many libraries and tools.</p>
    </dd>
</dl>

<h3 id="buildTasks">Build tasks</h3>

<p>The Android Studio build system defines a hierarchical set of build tasks: the top-level
tasks invoke the tasks they depend on to produce the necessary outcomes. The build system
provides project tasks to build your app and module tasks to build modules independently.</p>

<p>You can view the list of available tasks and invoke any task from Android Studio and from
the command line, as described in
<a href="#buildProject">Build the project in Android Studio</a> and and
<a href="#buildCmd">Build the project from the command line</a>.</p>

<h3 id="gradleWrapper">The Gradle wrapper</h3>

<p>Android Studio projects contain the <em>Gradle wrapper</em>, which consists of:</p>

<ul>
    <li>A JAR file</li>
    <li>A properties file</li>
    <li>A shell script for Windows platforms</li>
    <li>A shell script for Mac and Linux platforms</li>
</ul>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> You should submit all of these files to your source
control system.</p>

<p>Using the Gradle wrapper (instead of the local Gradle installation) ensures that
you always run the version of Gradle defined in the properties file. To configure your project
to use a newer version of Gradle, edit the properties file and specify the new version there.

<p>Android Studio reads the properties file from the Gradle wrapper directory inside your project
and runs the wrapper from this directory, so you can seamlessly work with multiple projects
that require different versions of Gradle.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Android Studio does not use the shell scripts, so any
changes you make to them won't work when building from the IDE. You should define your custom
logic inside Gradle build files instead.</p>

<p>You can run the shell scripts to build your project from the command line on your development
machine and on other machines where Android Studio is not installed.</p>


<h2 id="creatingBuilding">Create and Build an Android Studio Project</h2>

<p>This section builds on the concepts presented above and shows you how to:</p>

<ul>
    <li>Create projects and modules.</li>
    <li>Work with the project structure.</li>
    <li>Edit build files to configure the build process.</li>
    <li>Build and run your app.</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="createProject">Create a project in Android Studio</h3>

<p>To create a new project in Android Studio:</p>

<ol>
    <li>Click <strong>File</strong> and select <strong>New Project</strong>.</li>
    <li>In the window that appears, enter "BuildSystemExample" in the <em>Application</em>
        name field.</li>
    <li>Leave the rest of the values unchanged and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li>
    <li>Leave the default icon settings unchanged and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li>
    <li>Select <em>Blank Activity</em> and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li>
    <li>Leave the default activity and layout names unchanged and click
        <strong>Finish</strong>.</li>
</ol>

<p>Figure 1 shows how the Android Studio window looks like after creating the project.</p>

<img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/as-mainscreen.png" alt="" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 1.</strong> Previewing your app.</p>

<h3 id="projectStructure">The project structure</h3>

<p>Android Studio projects contain an application module by default (<code>app</code>).
Table 1 lists where the main components of your app are located inside this module.</p>

<p class="table-caption" id="table1">
<strong>Table 1.</strong> Default location of the components in an application module.</p>
<table>
    <tr>
        <th scope="col">Component</th>
        <th scope="col">Location</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Source files</td>
        <td><code>app/src/main/java/&lt;package>/</code></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Resource files</td>
        <td><code>app/src/main/res/</code></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Manifest file</td>
        <td><code>app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml</code></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Build file</td>
        <td><code>app/build.gradle</code></td>
    </tr>
</table>

<p>When you add additional modules to your project, the directory structure for each module is
similar to the one shown in table 1, replacing <code>app</code> by the name of the module.</p>

<h3 id="addLibModule">Add a library module</h3>

<p>This section shows you how to add a library module to your project and how to add this
library as a dependency of an application module.</p>

<h4>Create a new library module</h4>

<p>It is good development practice to group functionality that you may reuse in other apps inside
a library module. To create a library module inside the <code>BuildSystemExample</code>
project:</p>

<ol>
    <li>Click <strong>File</strong> and select <strong>New Module</strong>.</li>
    <li>On the window that appears, select <strong>Android Library</strong> and click
        <strong>Next</strong>.</li>
    <li>Leave the default module name (<code>lib</code>) unchanged and click
        <strong>Next</strong>.</li>
    <li>Select <em>Blank Activity</em> and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li>
    <li>Type "LibActivity1" on the <em>Activity Name</em> field and click
        <strong>Finish</strong>.</li>
</ol>

<p>The project now contains two modules, <code>app</code> and <code>lib</code>, with one activity
in each module.</p>

<h4 id="openActFromLib">Open an activity from a library module</h4>

<p>Library modules contain activities and other logic that one or more application modules reuse.
In this example, <code>MainActivity</code> in the app module opens <code>LibActivity1</code>
from the <code>lib</code> module. To open <code>LibActivity1</code> from
<code>MainActivity</code>:</p>

<ol>
    <li>
        <p>Edit the layout file for <code>MainActivity</code> in the <code>app</code> module.
        This file is located in <code>app/src/main/res/layout/activity_main.xml</code>. Replace
        the contents of this file with the following:</p>
        <p><pre>
&lt;LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context="com.buildsystemexample.app.MainActivity">

    &lt;Button
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/button1"
        android:onClick="onButton1Clicked"/>

&lt;/LinearLayout>
</pre></p>
    </li>
    <li>
        In this layout file, click on the line that contains
        <code>android:text="@string/button1"</code> and press <strong>Alt+Enter</strong>. Follow
        the suggestion from Android Studio to add a string resource with the value
        "Open LibActivity1".
    </li>
    <li>
        In this layout file, click on the line that contains
        <code>android:onClick="onButton1Clicked"</code> and press <strong>Alt+Enter</strong>.
        Follow the suggestion from Android Studio to add the <code>onButton1Clicked</code>
        method to <code>MainActivity</code>.
    </li>
    <li>
        <p>Copy the following code inside the <code>onButton1Clicked</code> method in
        <code>MainActivity</code>:</p>
        <p><pre>
public void onButton1Clicked(View view) {
    Intent intent = new Intent(this, LibActivity1.class);
    startActivity(intent);
}</pre></p>
    </li>
    <li>
        Click on <code>LibActivity1</code> in the first line inside the
        <code>onButton1Clicked</code> method of <code>MainActivity</code> and press
        <strong>Alt+Enter</strong>. Follow the suggestion from Android Studio to add an import
        for <code>LibActivity1</code> from the lib module.
    </li>
</ol>

<p>When the user taps the <strong>Open LibActivity1</strong> button on <code>MainActivity</code>
(from the <code>app</code> module), <code>LibActivity1</code> (from the <code>lib</code> module)
starts.</p>

<h4>Add a dependency on a library module</h4>

<p>The <code>app</code> module now depends on the <code>lib</code> module, but the build system
does not know about this yet. Edit the build file for the <code>app</code> module (
<code>app/build.gradle</code>) and add a dependency on the <code>lib</code> module:</p>

<pre>
...
dependencies {
    ...
    compile project(":lib")
}
</pre>

<p>The <code>lib</code> module can still be built and tested independently, and the build system
creates an AAR package for it that you could reuse in other projects.</p>

<h3 id="buildProject">Build the project in Android Studio</h3>

<p>To build the project on Android Studio, click <strong>Build</strong> and select
<strong>Make Project</strong>. The status bar at the bottom of the window shows the current
progress of the build:</p>

<p><code>Gradle: Executing tasks: [:app:assembleDebug, :lib:bundleDebug]</code></p>

<p class="note">If your project uses product flavors, Android Studio invokes the task for the
selected build variant. For more information, see <a href="#workBuildVariants">Work with build
variants.</a></p>

<p>Click <img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/as-gradlebutton.png" alt=""
style="vertical-align:bottom;margin:0;"/> on the bottom
right part of the window to show the <em>Gradle Console</em>, as shown in figure 2.</p>

<img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/as-gradleconsole.png" alt="" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 2.</strong> The Gradle Console in Android Studio.</p>

<p>The Gradle Console shows the build tasks and subtasks that the build system runs for
Android Studio. If the build fails, you can find more details on the console. To hide the Gradle
Console, click <img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/as-gradlebutton.png" alt=""
style="vertical-align:bottom;margin:0;"/> again.</p>

<p>To view the list of all available build tasks in Android Studio, click <strong>Gradle</strong>
on the right side of the IDE window. The <em>Gradle tasks</em> panel appears as shown in
figure 3. Double-click any build task to run it in Android Studio. To hide the <em>Gradle tasks</em>
panel, click <strong>Gradle</strong> again.</p>

<img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/as-gradlepanel.png" alt="" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 3.</strong> The list of build tasks in Android Studio.</p>


<h3 id="buildCmd">Build the project from the command line</h3>

<p>To build the project from the command line, open a terminal window and navigate to the project
root. On Windows platforms, type this command:</p>

<pre>
> gradlew.bat assembleDebug
</pre>

<p>On Mac OS and Linux platforms, type these commands:</p>

<pre>
$ chmod +x gradlew
$ ./gradlew assembleDebug
</pre>

<p>The first command (<code>chmod</code>) adds the execution permission to the Gradle wrapper
script and is only necessary the first time you build this project from the command line.</p>

<p>The output of <code>gradlew</code> is similar to the output in the Gradle Console from
figure 2.</p>

<p>The <code>assembleDebug</code> build task builds the debug version of your app and signs it
with the default local certificate, so that you can install it on the emulator and on real devices
for debugging purposes.</p>

<p>After you build the project, the output APK for the app module is located in
<code>app/build/apk/</code>, and the output AAR for the lib module is located in
<code>lib/build/libs/</code>.</p>

<p>To see a list of all available build tasks for your project, type this command:</p>

<pre>
$ ./gradlew tasks
</pre>


<h2 id="configBuild">Configure the Build</h2>

<p>This section uses the <code>BuildSystemExample</code> project from the previous section and
shows you how to:</p>

<ul>
    <li>Use the syntax from the Android plugin for Gradle in build files.</li>
    <li>Declare dependencies.</li>
    <li>Configure ProGuard settings.</li>
    <li>Configure signing settings.</li>
    <li>Work with build variants.</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="buildFileBasics">Build file basics</h3>

<p>Android Studio projects contain a top-level build file and a build file for each module. The
build files are called <code>build.gradle</code>, and they are plain text files that use
<a href="http://groovy.codehaus.org">Groovy</a> syntax to configure the build with the elements
provided by the Android plugin for Gradle. In most cases, you only need to edit the build files
at the module level. For example, the build file for the app module in the
<code>BuildSystemExample</code> project looks like this:</p>

<pre>
apply plugin: 'android'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 19
    buildToolsVersion "19.0.0"

    defaultConfig {
        minSdkVersion 8
        targetSdkVersion 19
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            runProguard true
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), \
            'proguard-rules.txt'
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    compile project(":lib")
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:19.0.1'
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
}
</pre>

<p><code>apply plugin: 'android'</code> applies the Android plugin for Gradle to this build.
This adds Android-specific build tasks to the top-level build tasks and makes the
<code>android {...}</code> element available to specify Android-specific build options.</p>

<p><code>android {...}</code> configures all the Android-specific build options:</p>

<ul>
    <li>The <code>compileSdkVersion</code> property specifies the compilation target.</li>
    <li><p>The <code>buildToolsVersion</code> property specifies what version of the build tools
        to use. To install several versions of the build tools, use the SDK Manager.</p>
        <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Always use a build tools version whose major
        revision number is higher or equal to that of your compilation target and target SDK.</p>
    </li>
    <li><p>The <code>defaultConfig</code> element configures core settings and
        entries in the manifest file (<code>AndroidManifest.xml</code>) dynamically from the
        build system. The values in <code>defaultConfig</code> override those in the manifest
        file.</p>
        <p>The configuration specified in the <code>defaultConfig</code> element applies
        to all build variants, unless the configuration for a build variant overrides some
        of these values.</p>
    </li>
    <li>The <code>buildTypes</code> element controls how to build and package your app.
        By default, the build system defines two build types: <em>debug</em> and
        <em>release</em>. The debug build type includes debugging symbols and is signed with
        the debug key. The release build type is not signed by default.
        In this example the build file configures the release version to use
        ProGuard.</li>
</ul>

<p>The <code>dependencies</code> element is outside and after the <code>android</code> element.
This element declares the dependencies for this module. Dependencies are covered in the following
sections.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> When you make changes to the build files in your project,
Android Studio requires a project sync to import the build configuration changes. Click
<strong>Sync Now</strong> on the yellow notification bar that appears for Android Studio
to import the changes.</p>

<img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/as-gradlesync.png" alt="" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 4.</strong> Sync the project in Android Studio.</p>

<h3 id="declareDeps">Declare dependencies</h3>

<p>The <code>app</code> module in <code>BuildSystemExample</code> declares three
dependencies:</p>

<pre>
...
dependencies {
    // Module dependency
    compile project(":lib")

    // Remote binary dependency
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:19.0.1'

    // Local binary dependency
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
}
</pre>

<p>Each of these dependencies is described below. The build system adds all the
<code>compile</code> dependencies to the compilation classpath and includes them in the final
package.</p>

<h4>Module dependencies</h4>

<p>The <code>app</code> module depends on the <code>lib</code> module, because
<code>MainActivity</code> launches <code>LibActivity1</code> as described in
<a href="#openActFromLib">Open an Activity from a Library Module</a>.</p>

<p><code>compile project(":lib")</code> declares a dependency on the <code>lib</code>
module of <code>BuildSystemExample</code>. When you build the <code>app</code> module,
the build system assembles and includes the <code>lib</code> module.</p>

<h4>Remote binary dependencies</h4>

<p>The <code>app</code> and <code>lib</code> modules both use the <code>ActionBarActivity</code>
class from the Android Support Library, so these modules depend on it.</p>

<p><code>compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:19.0.1'</code> declares a dependency on
version 19.0.1 of the Android Support Library by specifying its Maven coordinates. The Android Support
Library is available in the <em>Android Repository</em> package of the Android SDK. If your
SDK installation does not have this package, download and install it using the SDK Manager.</p>

Android Studio configures
projects to use the Maven Central Repository by default. (This configuration is included in the
top-level build file for the project.)</p>

<h4>Local binary dependencies</h4>

<p>The modules in <code>BuildSystemExample</code> do not use any binary dependencies from the
local file system. If you have modules that require local binary dependencies, copy the JAR
files for these dependencies into <code>&lt;moduleName>/libs</code> inside your project.</p>

<p><code>compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])</code> tells the build system that any
JAR file inside <code>app/libs</code> is a dependency and should be included in the compilation
classpath and in the final package.</p>

<p>For more information about dependencies in Gradle, see
<a href="http://www.gradle.org/docs/current/userguide/artifact_dependencies_tutorial.html">Dependency
Management Basics</a> in the Gradle User Guide.</p>

<h3 id="runProguard">Run ProGuard</h3>

<p>The build system can run
<a href="http://developer.android.com/tools/help/proguard.html">ProGuard</a> to obfuscate your
classes during the build process. In <code>BuildSystemExample</code>, modify the build file for
the app module to run ProGuard for the release build:</p>

<pre>
...
android {
    ...
    buildTypes {
        release {
            runProguard true
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), \
                          'proguard-rules.txt'
        }
    }
}
...
</pre>

<p><code>getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt')</code> obtains the default ProGuard
settings from the Android SDK installation. Android Studio adds the module-specific rules file
<code>proguard-rules.txt</code> at the root of the module, where you can add custom ProGuard
rules.</p>

<p>You can build the release version of your application from the command line or using Android
Studio. To build it from the command line, invoke the <code>assembleRelease</code> build task using
the Gradle wrapper script (<code>gradlew assembleRelease</code>). To build it from Android
Studio:</p>

<ol>
    <li>Click <strong>Gradle</strong> on the right side of the IDE window.</li>
    <li>On the <em>All tasks</em> section of the sidebar that appears, expand
        <strong>BuildSystemExample</strong>.</li>
    <li>Expand <strong>:app</strong> and double-click <strong>assembleRelease</strong>.</li>
</ol>

<p>You can use this procedure to invoke any build task from Android Studio.</p>

<h3 id="configureSigning">Configure signing settings</h3>

<p>The debug and the release versions of the app differ on whether the application can be
debugged on secure devices and on how the APK is signed. The build system signs the debug
version with a default key and certificate using known credentials to avoid a password prompt at
build time. The build system does not sign the release version unless you explicitly define a
signing configuration for this build.</p>

<p>To sign the release version of <code>BuildSystemExample</code>:</p>

<ol>
    <li><p>Copy your release key to the root directory of the <code>app</code> module
        (<code>app/</code>).</p>
        <p>This ensures that the build system can find your key when you move the location of your
        project or when you build the project on a different machine. If you do not have a release
        key, you can generate one as described in
        <a href="{@docRoot}tools/publishing/app-signing.html">Signing your Applications</a>.</p>
    </li>
    <li><p>Add the signing configuration to the build file for the <code>app</code> module:</p>
        <p><pre>
...
android {
    ...
    defaultConfig { ... }
    signingConfigs {
        release {
            storeFile file("myreleasekey.keystore")
            storePassword "password"
            keyAlias "MyReleaseKey"
            keyPassword "password"
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            ...
            signingConfig signingConfigs.release
        }
    }
}
...
</pre></p>
    </li>
    <li>Invoke the <code>assembleRelease</code> build task from Android Studio or from the command
        line.</li>
</ol>

<p>The package in <code>app/build/apk/app-release.apk</code> is now signed with your release key.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Including the passwords for your release key and keystore
inside the build file is not a good security practice. Alternatively, you can configure the build
file to obtain these passwords from environment variables or have the build process prompt you
for these passwords.</p>

<p>To obtain these passwords from environment variables:</p>

<pre>
storePassword System.getenv("KSTOREPWD")
keyPassword System.getenv("KEYPWD")
</pre>

<p>To have the build process prompt you for these passwords if you are invoking the build from
the command line:</p>

<pre>
storePassword System.console().readLine("\nKeystore password: ")
keyPassword System.console().readLIne("\nKey password: ")
</pre>

<h3 id="workBuildVariants">Work with build variants</h3>

<p>This section describes how the build system can help you create different versions of the same
application from a single project. This is useful when you have a demo version and a paid version
of your app, or if you want to distribute multiple APKs for different device configurations on
Google Play.</p>

<p>The build system uses <em>product flavors</em> to create different versions of your app. Each
version of your app can have different features or device requirements. The build system generates
a different APK for each version of your app.</p>

<h4>Build variants</h4>

<p>Each version of your app is represented in the build system by a <em>build variant</em>.
Build variants are combinations of build types and product flavor configurations. Android Studio
projects define two build types (<em>debug</em> and <em>release</em>) and no product flavors by
default. These projects consists of two build variants, debug and release, and the build system
generates an APK for each.</p>

<p>The exercise in this section defines two product flavors, <em>demo</em> and <em>full</em>.
This generates four build variants:</p>

<ul>
    <li>demo-debug</li>
    <li>demo-release</li>
    <li>full-debug</li>
    <li>full-release</li>
</ul>

<p>In this case the build system creates four APKs, one for each of these build variants.</p>

<p>Some projects have complex combinations of features along more than one dimension, but they
still represent the same app. For example, in addition to having a demo and a full version of the
app, some games may contain binaries specific to a particular CPU/ABI. The flexibility of
the build system makes it possible to generate the following build variants for such a project:</p>

<ul>
    <li>x86-demo-debug</li>
    <li>x86-demo-release</li>
    <li>x86-full-debug</li>
    <li>x86-full-release</li>
    <li>arm-demo-debug</li>
    <li>arm-demo-release</li>
    <li>arm-full-debug</li>
    <li>arm-full-release</li>
    <li>mips-demo-debug</li>
    <li>mips-demo-release</li>
    <li>mips-full-debug</li>
    <li>mips-full-release</li>
</ul>

<p>This project would consist of two build types (<em>debug</em> and <em>release</em>)
and two <em>dimensions</em> of product flavors, one for app type (demo or full) and one for
CPU/ABI (x86, ARM, or MIPS). For more information on flavor dimensions, see the
<a href="http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/new-build-system/user-guide">Gradle Plugin User
Guide</a>.</p>

<h4>Source directories</h4>

<p>To build each version of your app, the build system combines source code and
resources from:</p>

<ul>
    <li><code>src/main/</code> - the main source directory (common to all variants)</li>
    <li><code>src/&lt;buildType>/</code> - the build type source directory</li>
    <li><code>src/&lt;flavorName>/</code> - the flavor source directory</li>
</ul>

<p>The number of flavor source directories used in the build depends on the flavor configuration
of your project:</p>
<ul>
    <li><p>For projects that do not define any flavors, the build system does not use any
        flavor source directories. For example, to generate the <em>release</em> build variant
        in projects with no flavors, the build system uses:</p>
        <ul>
            <li><code>src/main/</code></li>
            <li><code>src/release/</code> (build type)</li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li><p>For projects that define a set of flavors, the build system uses one flavor source
        directory. For example, to generate the <em>full-debug</em> build variant in the example
        in this section, the build system uses:</p>
        <ul>
            <li><code>src/main/</code></li>
            <li><code>src/debug/</code> (build type)</li>
            <li><code>src/full/</code> (flavor)</li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li><p>For projects that use flavor dimensions, the build system uses one flavor source
        directory per dimension. For example, to generate the <em>arm-demo-release</em> build
        variant in the previous example, the build system uses:</p>
        <ul>
            <li><code>src/main/</code></li>
            <li><code>src/release/</code> (build type)</li>
            <li><code>src/demo/</code> (flavor - app type dimension)</li>
            <li><code>src/arm/</code> (flavor - ABI dimension)</li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> The build type and flavor source directories are optional,
and Android Studio does not create these directories for you. The build system does not use them
if they are not present.</p>

<p>The source code from these directories is used together to generate the output for a build
variant. You can have classes with the same name in different directories as long as those
directories are not used together in the same variant. The exercise in this section shows you
how to create different versions of the same activity class in different variants.</p>

<p>The build system merges all the manifests into a single manifest, so each build variant
can define different components or permissions in the final manifest.</p>

<p>The build system merges all the resources from the all the source directories. If different
folders contain resources with the same name for a build variant, the priority order is the
following: build type resources override those from the product flavor, which override the
resources in the main source directory.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Build variants enable you to reuse common activities,
application logic, and resources across different versions of your app.</p>

<h4>Product flavors in BuildSystemExample</h4>

<p>To create different versions of your app:</p>

<ol>
    <li>Define product flavors in the build file.</li>
    <li>Create additional source directories for each flavor.</li>
    <li>Add the flavor-specific sources to your project.</li>
</ol>

<p>The rest of this section walks you through these steps in detail using the
<code>BuildSystemExample</code> project. You create two flavors of the
<code>BuildSystemExample</code> app, a demo flavor and a full flavor. Both flavors share
<code>MainActivity</code>, to which you add a new button to launch a new activity,
<code>SecondActivity</code>. This new activity is different for each flavor, so you simulate a
situation where the new activity would have more features in the full flavor than in the demo
flavor. At the end of the exercise, you end up with two different APKs, one for each flavor.</p>

<h4>Define product flavors in the build file</h4>

<p>To define two product flavors, edit the build file for the app module to add the following
configuration:</p>

<pre>
...
android {
    ...
    defaultConfig { ... }
    signingConfigs { ... }
    buildTypes { ... }
    productFlavors {
        demo {
            packageName "com.buildsystemexample.app.demo"
            versionName "1.0-demo"
        }
        full {
            packageName "com.buildsystemexample.app.full"
            versionName "1.0-full"
        }
    }
}
...
</pre>

<p>The product flavor definitions support the same properties as the <code>defaultConfig</code>
element. The base configuration for all flavors is specified in <code>defaultConfig</code>, and each
flavor can override any value. The build file above assigns a different package name to each flavor:
since each flavor definition creates a different app, they each need a distinct package name.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> To distribute your app using
<a href="{@docRoot}google/play/publishing/multiple-apks.html">Multiple APK Support</a> in
Google Play, assign the same package name to all variants and give each variant a different
<code>versionCode</code>. To distribute different variants of your app as separate apps in Google
Play, assign a different package name to each variant.</p>

<h4>Add additional source directories for each flavor</h4>

<p>Now you create source folders and add a <code>SecondActivity</code> to each flavor. To create
the source directory structure for the demo flavor:</p>

<ol>
    <li>On the <em>Project</em> panel, expand <strong>BuildSystemExample</strong>, and then expand
        the <strong>app</strong> directory.</li>
    <li>Right click the <strong>src</strong> directory under <em>app</em> and select
        <strong>New</strong> > <strong>Directory</strong>.</li>
    <li>Enter "demo" as the name of the new directory and click <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
    <li><p>Similarly, create the following directories:</p>
        <ul>
            <li><code>app/src/demo/java</code></li>
            <li><code>app/src/demo/res</code></li>
            <li><code>app/src/demo/res/layout</code></li>
            <li><code>app/src/demo/res/values</code></li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ol>

<p>The resulting directory structure looks like figure 5.</p>

<img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/as-demoflavordirs.png" alt="" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 5.</strong> New source directories for the demo flavor.</p>

<h4>Add a new activity to each flavor</h4>

<p>To add <code>SecondActivity</code> to the <code>demo</code> flavor:</p>

<ol>
    <li>On the <em>Project</em> panel, right click on the <strong>app</strong> module and select
        <strong>New</strong> > <strong>Activity</strong>.</li>
    <li>Select <strong>Blank Activity</strong> and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li>
    <li>Enter "SecondActivity" as the activity name.</li>
    <li>Enter "com.buildsystemexample.app" as the package name and click
        <strong>Finish</strong>.</li>
    <li>Right click on the <strong>java</strong> directory under <em>app/src/demo</em> and select
        <strong>New</strong> > <strong>Package</strong>.</li>
    <li>Enter "com.buildsystemexample.app" as the package name and click <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
    <li>Drag <strong>SecondActivity</strong> and drop it under the new package in
        <em>app/src/demo/java</em>.</li>
    <li>Accept the default values and click <strong>Refactor</strong>.</li>
</ol>

<p>To add the layout for <code>SecondActivity</code> and a strings resource to the demo flavor:</p>

<ol>
    <li>Drag <strong>activity_second.xml</strong> from <em>app/src/main/res/layout</em> and drop it
        inside <em>app/src/demo/res/layout</em>.</li>
    <li>Accept the default values on the window that appears and click <code>OK</code>.</li>
    <li>Copy <strong>strings.xml</strong> from <em>app/src/main/res</em> into
        <em>app/src/demo/res</em>.</li>
    <li><p>Replace the contents of the new copy of <code>strings.xml</code> with the
        following:</p>
        <p><pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
&lt;resources>
    &lt;string name="hello_world">Demo version only.&lt;/string>
&lt;/resources>
</pre></p>
    </li>
</ol>

<p>Now you add source folders and <code>SecondActivity</code> to the full flavor by making a copy
of the <code>demo</code> flavor:</p>

<ol>
    <li>On the <em>Project</em> panel, right click on the <strong>demo</strong> directory under
        <em>app/src</em> and select <strong>Copy</strong>.</li>
    <li>Right-click on the <strong>src/</strong> directory under <em>app/</em> and select
        <strong>Paste</strong>.</li>
    <li>On the window that appears, enter "full" as the new name and click <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
    <li><p>Replace the contents of <strong>strings.xml</strong> under <em>src/full/res/values</em>
        with the following:</p>
        <p><pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
&lt;resources>
    &lt;string name="hello_world">This is the full version!&lt;/string>
&lt;/resources>
</pre></p>
    </li>
</ol>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> From this point on, you could develop
<code>SecondActivity</code> independently inside each
flavor. You can add more features to this activity in the <code>full</code> flavor.</p>

<p>To work on files from a particular flavor, click on <strong>Build Variants</strong> on the left
of the IDE window and select the flavor you want to modify in the <em>Build Variants</em> panel,
as shown in figure 5. Android Studio may show errors in source files from flavors other than the
one selected in the <em>Build Variants</em> panel, but this does not affect the outcome of the
build.</p>

<img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/as-buildvariants.png" alt="" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 6.</strong> The Build Variants panel.</p>

<h4>Launch a flavor-specific activity from the main activity</h4>

<p>Since the flavor-specific activity (<code>SecondActivity</code>) has the same package name and
activity name in both flavors, you can launch it from the main activity, which is common to all
flavors. To modify the main activity:</p>

<ol>
    <li><p>Edit <code>activity_main.xml</code> and add a new button to
        <code>MainActivity</code>:</p>
        <p><pre>
&lt;LinearLayout ...>
    ...
    &lt;Button
        android:id="@+id/button2"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/button2"
        android:onClick="onButton2Clicked"/>
&lt;/LinearLayout>
</pre></p>
    </li>
    <li>Click on the areas marked in red in the layout file and press <strong>Alt</strong>+
        <strong>Enter</strong>. Follow the suggestions from Android Studio to add a new string
        resource with value “Open Second Activity” and an <code>onButton2Clicked</code> method to
        <code>MainActivity</code>.</li>
    <li><p>Add the following code to the <code>onButton2Clicked</code> method of
        <code>MainActivity</code>:</p>
        <p><pre>
public void onButton2Clicked(View view) {
    Intent intent = new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class);
    startActivity(intent);
}
</pre></p>
    </li>
    <li><p>Edit the app's manifest to include a reference to <code>SecondActivity</code>:</p>
        <p><pre>
&lt;manifest ...>
    &lt;application ...>
        ...
        &lt;activity
            android:name="com.buildsystemexample.app.SecondActivity"
            android:label="@string/title_activity_second" >
        &lt;/activity>
    &lt;/application>
&lt;/manifest>
</pre></p>
    </li>
</ol>

<h4>Build output</h4>

<p>The <code>BuildSystemExample</code> app is now complete. To build it, invoke the
<code>assemble</code> task from Android Studio or from the command line.</p>

<p>The build generates an APK for each build variant:
the <code>app/build/apk/</code> directory contains packages named
<code>app-&lt;flavor>-&lt;buildtype>.apk</code>; for example, <code>app-full-release.apk</code> and
<code>app-demo-debug.apk</code>.</p>


<h2 id="reference">Reference</h2>

<p>The build system is very flexible and has more features than those described here. For a
complete reference, see the
<a href="http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/new-build-system/user-guide">Android Plugin for Gradle
User Guide</a>.</p>