Android 16 supports a new feature called cloud compilation that aims to speed up app install times on budget devices. Here's how it works.
  • Android 16 now supports cloud compilation, a new feature that could speed up new app installs.
  • The goal of cloud compilation is to avoid running the dex2oat tool during app installations by offloading compilation to the cloud.
  • Dex2oat takes an APK file and generates app artifact files that the Android Runtime loads. Depending on the device and the amount of code to compile, this could take some time.

It looks like the ART (Android Runtime) JIT is playing an increasingly less important role with time.

Friendly reminder that the cloud is just someone else’s computer.

    • tyler@programming.devEnglish
      7·
      20 hours ago

      You can compile Java and Kotlin to native if you want. That’s not the issue here. Like OP responded to you, it’s not a property of the language but the implementation.

    • henfredemars@infosec.pubOPEnglish
      131·
      24 hours ago

      Compiled isn’t a property of a language but it describes the implementation. You can compile Python for example to native code using Cython, but it will need a Python runtime that is not much less work than running the code through the interpreter. There are C interpreters. Further, Java is compiled to native code and is being used in this fashion right now. You can also ship native C, C++, or Go binaries by using the Android Native Development Kit and that’s exactly what most Android games do for performance.

      Should Android not have started with Java? Even looking back, it’s hard to say. Java helped Android get started quickly using a language many developers already knew how to use. We might have been discussing something other than Android if that wasn’t the case. I cannot know.