News by: Jared Peter 31st Jan 2014
Android 4.4 Kitkat brings the amazing addition and that was new ART Runtime Compiler for apps that was set to replace the aging Dalvik. ART was introduced as an experimental feature in Android’s developer options, and it came with its own set of problems. Even though ART was quite a bit faster than Dalvik, many apps didn’t play nice with the new compiler, and even though several apps have been updated to be able to function with it, it’s still not the norm for most apps. Of course, since ART was an experimental feature, it wasn’t a big deal that some apps didn’t work with it. Considering that not too many devices even have access to Android 4.4, it’s really not much of an issue at all.
Fast forward a bit, and it looks like there’s been a commit in AOSP that clues that ART may finally be (officially) replacing Dalvik in the next version of Android. Dalvik isn’t removed, but it’s instead just not selected as the default compiler. It’s still available as an option, but ART would be the primary choice.
This could mean a few things. It could mean that Google has tweaked ART enough to be ready for primetime with existing apps, or it could just mean that this commit was added experimentally for the Android team to play with. By the time the next version of Android is actually announced, this feature could go back to how it was in KitKat. There’s really no telling.
Regardless of what’s the reasoning behind this commit, Google is clearly dedicated to getting ART in top shape and ready to be used as the default compiler in Android. With the performance increases it brings, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. At this point, it’s a matter of “when,” not “if.” Hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.
