Google is rolling out the latest update o Android Studio in the stable channel. Android Studio is, of course, the official development environment for Android. It provides all the tools for building apps and much more. Version 3.1 continues to support the new features in version 3.0 and adds a few new ones as well.
Version 3.0 was the last major update and it added the Kotlin programming language. Version 3.1 allows Kotlin lint code quality checks to run via the command line using the “gradlew lint” command. SQL/Room database editing has also been improved with SQL code completion, statement reinforcing, and code navigation.
The dex compiler in Android Studio 3.1 is now D8 by default. D8 dexing makes app sizes smaller, enables accurate step debugging, and leads to faster builds in general. Make sure the gradle.properties has no android.enableD8 flag or make sure it’s set to true.
The latest version of the Android Emulator now supports the Play Store and Google APIs on API 27 (Oreo) and API 24 (Nougat) as well as the Android P developer preview. The new frameless mode makes it easy to test apps in the increasingly common 18:9 aspect ratio or with a display notch. The future of Android devices are heading in this direction, for better or worse.
Android Studio version 3.0 introduced a new set of Android profilers to measure CPU, memory, and network activity. Version 3.1 includes performance profiling Kotlin and Java language app code as well as the ability to profile C++ code in your app. You can record C++ method traces with the C++ profiler.
The 3.1 version update is available starting today. You can upgrade your current install or download a new build from the Android Studio site. Be sure to watch the video above and check out the full post on the Android Developers Blog for even more details.
Source: Android Developer Blog