To make mobile apps smarter, Google has planned a major update to its Android Studio. The search giant has announced Android Studio 2.4 Preview 6 ahead of its final release that includes Java 8 language features.
“For those of you who tried the Jack compiler, we now support the same set of Java 8 language features but with faster build speed,” said James Lau, product manager of Android Studio.
The Gradle plugin for Android Studio has translated Java 8 class files into Java 7-compatible class files to let you use advanced features such as lambdas and method references. Also, you can use the built-in Java 8 language features with the tools that work with bytecode and libraries written in the latest Java version.
“It is easy to try using Java 8 language features in your Android project,” Lau acclaimed.
You just need to download Android Studio 2.4 Preview 6 and update your project’s target and source compatibility to Java version 1.8 to get the latest experience.
First surfaced on Preview 4
It is worth noting that while a large number of Java 8 language features are debuted on the latest Android Studio, Java 8 desugaring was debuted right in its fourth preview release. However, the new development has brought bug fixes and performance improvements alongside some new features to upgrade the existing experience.