Android Studio

Android Studio is the official integrated development environment (IDE) for Google's Android operating system, built on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA software and designed specifically for Android development. This is available for download on Windows, macOS and Linux based operating systems. It is a replacement for the Eclipse Android Development Tools (E-ADT) as the primary IDE for native (local) Android application development. Android Studio is licensed under the Apache license but it also ships with some SDK updates that are under a non-free license, making it not an open source.
Android Studio was announced on May 16, 2013, at the Google I/O conference. It was in early access preview stage starting from version 0.1 in May 2013, then entered beta stage starting from version 0.8 which was released in June 2014. The first stable build was released in December 2014, starting from version 1.0. At the end of 2015, Google dropped support for Eclipse ADT, making Android Studio the only officially supported IDE for Android development.
On May 7, 2019, Kotlin replaced Java as Google's preferred language for Android app development. Java is still supported, as is C++.
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.
Out of the box, Android Studio includes a set of built-in plugins that support essential development tasks:
Beyond the built-in options, developers can access a vast array of third-party plugins to extend Android Studio's capabilities:
These plugins, among many others, are available through the JetBrains Plugin Repository and can be easily installed via Android Studio's plugin manager.
For specialized requirements, developers have the option to create custom plugins:
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.
Effective management of plugins is crucial to maintain an optimal development environment:
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:
Android Studio supports all the same programming languages of IntelliJ (and CLion) e.g. Java, C++, and with more extensions, such as Go; and Android Studio 3.0 or later supports Kotlin, and "Android Studio includes support for using a number of Java 11+ APIs without requiring a minimum API level for your app". External projects backport some Java 9 features. 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.
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.
The following is a list of Android Studio's major releases:
These features includes requirements for IDE + Android SDK + Android Emulator.
The use of hardware acceleration has additional requirements on Windows and Linux:
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.