I am downloading Android Studio now so I can create mobile apps using Kotlin and I am totally new to it, I checked the Android Studio user guide and it says it is strongly built on IntelliJ so I am wondering do I still need to download IntelliJ or once I download Android Studio, I will find all I want in it.
Android Studio has built-in plugins with IntelliJ software. You don't need to install IntelliJ. Android Studio will work just fine.
Is it possible to develop a Kotlin app for windows using Android Studio?
I can't seem to find an option but was wondering if it is possible somehow since AS is built on Intellij.
Currently, I have IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate installed. I want to develop an Android app. Do I need to install Android Studio?
No. Android Studio is focused specifically on Android development and
provides streamlined environment and project setup, but otherwise all
of its features are available in IntelliJ IDEA.
-- JetBrains
Android Studio and IntelliJ changes for Android related functionality are kept in sync (both ways). Android Studio is free but has only a subset of functionality of IntelliJ.
I am somewhat new to both IntelliJ and Android Studio. The Android Studio IDE seems to be built directly on top of the IntelliJ platform. Are they the same?
Since Android Studio is based in Intellij, your "learning curve" should not be a problem at all.
Android studio has more "branding" for Android than IntelliJ IDEA. And since it is just an Android IDE, it can be more "focused". There isn't anything you can do in Android Studio that you can't do in Intellij IDEA. But the opposite is not true. There are a number of (non-android) things you can do in IntelliJ IDEA (both the community and ultimate editions) that you cannot do in Android Studio.
for more clarification
Yesterday Google announced that native code debugging is now possible with this version of Android Studio.
https://plus.google.com/+AndroidDevelopers/posts/2Gk6yrZKV4X
I've updated to the newest build version "AI-141.1962279" and can't see any possibility of debugging native code.
I've switched to build-tools 23.0-rc1, used gradle plugin 1.3.0-beta1 but cannot set breakpoints in native code or step into JNI calls.
Is it really working?
July 10th update Android Studio Preview with NDK support is available : https://sites.google.com/a/android.com/tools/tech-docs/android-ndk-preview
Android Studio 1.3.0-Preview is indeed available through the Android Studio "Check for updates" menu.
Unfortunately, all C++ features aren't available yet in this preview. They will be available in about 2 weeks.
Source : Google IO dev tools keynote at 35:38
Android Studio 1.3 Beta Available
posted Jun 19, 2015, 11:37 AM by Tor Norbye
Android Studio 1.3 Beta is now available in the beta channel! Sorry, this build does not yet contain the C/C++ support; we are still ironing out a couple of critical issues, but we hope to be ready in the next week or two. Similarly, the vector rasterization support is also still not enabled due to various bugs.
UPDATE:
the 9th of July update contains c++ debug
http://tools.android.com/recent
Even on the Canary Channel, the latest currenlty available build is 1.2.1.1. We will simply have to wait a bit longer for 1.3. The "About Box" in Android Studio also displays the version number; check that to be sure.
"As announced at Google I/O, Android Studio 1.3 will include C/C++ support as well, but that is not included in the first couple of preview builds."
Source:
https://sites.google.com/a/android.com/tools/recent/androidstudio13preview1available
FYI:
NDK support is included from Android Studio 1.3 RC1 on. This includes editing running and debugging C and C++ code. See Android NDK Preview and experimental Gradle plugin guide.
with Android Studio 1.4 release you could debug native JNI code. Your project need to use gradle plugin com.android.model.application though.
After you create a project with JNI code in it, this Android Studio version will create a debug Configuration (mine is called app-native)
once you select this configuration, you could set breakpoint in JNI code
then run your app with android studio [it will download and start app on device]
When JNI code is launched, Android Studio will break right away. You could set more breakpoint at this moment too
Then let debugger "go" [to continue ]
Your breakpoints will get hit
The gradle model plugin examples could be found from googlesamples/android-ndk on github. There is a youtube clip called HelloJniWithAndroidStudio shows how to create a hello-jni with android studio 1.3, most steps still work for 1.4 -- it might help for build.gradle creation.
Different version of gradle mode plugin requires different gradle version:
Gradle-Model-Plugin-version 0.2.0 works with Gradle Version 2.5
Gradle-Model-Plugin-version 0.3.0-alpha3 works with Gradle version 2.6
you could find out what versions are available from the jcenter links mentioned earlier.