[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 Android Development] tx_dbs_tx:
Well first off the changes in Lollipop's odexing is keeping me from running a 100% odexed rom. There is currently no odexing tool that is compatible with Lollipop. Therefore any modifications to any apk/jar that requires smali edits obviously requires deodexing. Normal theming of the apk's resources does not require deodexing therefore you can make whatever changes needed for theming but if you need to edit smali for modding purposes then you must deodex first then edit smali then rebuild the apk. Once you do this though, you can't reodex the apk. So if you want to make a mod like 4-way reboot or change the settings apk so you can choose the view type, this requires smali work, hence it must be deodexed first. Once i deodex and modify smali in classes there's no way to reodex the file. So i plan to modify only what i have to and only use those deodexed files that i have to for the mods i want to do. Anything that can be themed/modded without deodexing will be done. the advanced mods, etc must be deodexed. no exceptions.

As for benefits/dissatvantages of deodexed & odexed in Lollipop, and if you should run one or the other, I can say this.. There's really no reason to not run a fully odexed Lollipop rom because you can flash odexed or deodexed themes & mods on either.. Minor theming of an odexed apk does not require altering it's odex file... meaning a themer can theme just the odexed apk, and you can flash it without the need to include it's odex files. But If the theme requires modifying smali then it must be deodexed. For the most part, when flashing an odexed theme your exhisting odex files remain untouched. However, flashing a deodexed theme on top of an odexed system is a different story. Currently Lollipop doesn't allow permission for recovery script to delete the system odex files (from my experience) of the modded apk's/jar's, so if you're on an odexed rom and want to flash a theme/mod that is deodexed, you will have to manually delete the corresponding odex files for each modified apk/jar in the zip. Otherwise the odex files remain and will conflict with the newly flashed deodexed classes. You will have classes in the main apk as well as the classes in the odex files which will contradict one another. So in this scenario a deodexed rom is the best option if you plan to flash deodexed themes or else you will need to manually delete the odexes yourself after flashing the deodexed theme. Even if the dev/themer includes a script to delete the odex files, Lollipop doesn't seem to allow that permission anymore. (at least from my experieces so far.) Also it should be noted that there's typically only a small handful of apk's/jar's that make up a theme and if you're running my new custom odexed rom (when I finish it), it will most likely already have those common files deodexed anyway. So it will not matter if you flash a deodexed mod/theme if your rom currently has some mixed in deodexed files of those most commomly themed apk's such as systemUI, SecSetting, framework-res, twframework-res, etc. I know this all may sound confusing and I may not be explaing it in the best way, but it really doesn't matter if you go with odexed or deodexed. Right now all mods requiring smali work will have to be deodexed. Period. I, however will only deodex what i have to and leave everything else odexed... even themed items will remain odexed. If you are wanting to flash any type of mod or theme on your Lollipop note 4, then you need to get specific detaild from the developer before flashing. you will need to know wether the zip contains note 4 BOB7 system files and exactly which files are included in the zip so you can delete your odex files after flashing it. Very simple actually. So to sum it up, my opinion is that running the fully odexed rom and flashing whatever theme/mods that are deodexed will only account for a very small percentage of deodexed files in your system leaving the majority of your system odexed and much more suited for ART optimization. Just pay attention to the files you flash and know that you need to delete the corresponding odex files because even with a script to delete the odexes, it's not working on Lollipop. I have another idea on accomplishing this so i'll test and see what i can come up with. Any mods that i put out will either include a script to delete corresponding odexes or it will be deodexed and full details as well.

As of right now I'm not noticing much if any difference between my fully odexed & deodexed roms. I haven't been a power user lately and haven't really tried to bog the phone down or anything so from my mild usage I don't notice much difference.Maybe if you put two identical note 4's side by side with one having odexed and the other deodexed you might be able to tell the difference.

Edit: Sorry for the long post. Trying to explain this isn't easy.