Android Studio is a special tool used as the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for the development of various Android applications (android.com, n.d.). Android Studio tool is based on IntelliJ IDEA that is another Java integrated development software. Android Studio is a powerful code editor and a tool for developers, which offers many features that enhance their productivity.
Today, there are many software instruments that are similar to Android Studio. Alternative IDEs for coding and development of Android applications are JavaIDEdroid, Terminal IDE, AIDE, Anacode IDE, etc. (Marshall, 2014). These tools support Java, HTML, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, C++ and can be launched on any Android device.
Android Studio plays an important role in programming as it increases the effectiveness of work with applications. It has many useful features that facilitate the programming process. In addition, Android Studio has a built-in support of Google Cloud Platform, and this unique feature enables its users to integrate App Engine and Google Cloud Messaging (android.com, n.d.). With help of this Integrated Development Tool, various applications can be effectively developed for all Android devices. However, the main reason why Android Studio plays a significant role in programming is that it is an official Android IDE.
This instrument has been developed by Google, and Android Studio 1.0 has become the first stable version of Google IDEs (Protalinski, 2014). Google Company announced Android Studio in May 2013 at the I/O conference, and later spent about 2 years to develop this tool. Android Studio 1.0 was the very first version of the Google IDE, and the last Android Studio version 2.1.2.0 was released on June 6, 2016 (android.com, n.d.).
There are many reasons why developers prefer Android Studio when they design applications for Android platform. One of the reasons is that it has a flexible Gradle-based build system that can enhance developers’ productivity. Also, Android Studio enables the users to push changes to the running applications without a need to build a new APK, and they can do it with help of Instant Run feature. This Integrated Development Environment developed by Google also lets the developers use a feature-rich and fast emulator, which is a great competitive advantage of this tool.
More than that, Android Studio offers the developers a large number of various testing tools and frameworks that can help in programming. In addition, Android Studio includes many code templates that can be used to build features that are common for many applications. It was already mentioned that Google Cloud Platform is supported by this IDE, so it enables an easy integration of Google App Engine and Cloud Messaging. GitHub integration is another useful feature that helps to import sample code. It should also be mentioned that Android Studio supports NDK and C++. Finally, Android Studio IDE provides many lint tools that are used to evaluate usability and performance, version compatibility, and locate various problems (android.com, n.d.).
Another advantage of Android Studio is that is freely available for all developers and they do not have to pay anything to download and use the program. Thus, considering the fact that this tool is freely available and it offers many unique and useful features, many developers of Android applications prefer using this tool. When talking about myself, the biggest advantage of this IDE is that it has been officially released by Google Company.
References
Android.com. (n.d.). Meet Android Studio. Android.com. Retrieved 14 June 2016 from https://developer.android.com/studio/intro/index.html
Android.com. (n.d.). Start using Android Studio today. Android.com. Retrieved 14 June 2016 from https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html
Marshall, A. (2014). Top 10 Android Apps and IDE for Java Coders and Programmers. IDR Solutions. Retrieved 14 June 2016 from https://blog.idrsolutions.com/2014/12/android-apps-ide-for-java-coder-programmers/
Protalinski, E. (2014). Google releases Android Studio 1.0, the first stable version of its IDE. Venture Beat. Retrieved 14 June 2016 from http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/08/google-releases-android-studio-1-0-the-first-stable-version-of-its-ide/
