New Development Tools for Android Developers

New Release for Android Developers ADT 20.0.0

Android SDK r20 and ADT Plugin 20.0.0 is released for the developers to develop the new applications with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).


This post will list the features of the ADT 20.0.0 Plugin for eclipse for developers.


The following dependencies for the ADT 20.0.0 is required to install


Java 1.6+
Eclipse Helios (Version 3.6.2) +

New Features

The new and improved features in Android ADT Plugin for Eclipse.

Application Templates

Added new application templates by which you can create the specific type of applications faster using the Android-recommended best practices.

Performance

The performance is improved in ADT 20.0.0 now the SDK data should be up to 30% faster.

Tracer for Open GLES 2.0

New tracing support for OpenGL calls for an application and track the visual results for each call.

Lint Enhancements

Defined new Lint rules for manifest registrations,duplicate activity registrations,security checks,Fragment class initialization and handler leaks. Created a tighter integration of lint with the layout editor.Added execution of Lint tool on save option for java files.

Layout Editor

Improved Layout editor with highlighting of important attributes (in bold) , inline preview of colors and images,display attribute tips,better categorization of layout param and much more.

XML Editing

Added go to declaration support for theme references. The version descriptions are displayed for each

of the API levels.Code completion in XML editor is enhanced.

Build System

The build system is improved with following features

Added automatic merging of library project manifest files into the including project's manifest. This feature could be enable using the manifestmerger.enabled property.

Added automatic ProGuard support for the aapt -G flag. This will reduce the overall size of APK file.

Added support for building and debugging the NDK projects.

Added a new Asset Studio Wizard for padding and turning off background shapes.

Added color support in LogCat.

Support the application run for multiple devices in single launch. The target tab in the launch configuration dialog includes an option to allow launching on all connected devices.

Now boost your development using the new plugin. You can update or install the ADT Plugin from the steps defined on http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/installing-adt.html

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