Embedded Android

Chapter 4. The Build System

The goal of the previous chapter was to get you up and running as quickly as possible with custom AOSP development. There’s nothing precluding you from closing this book at this point and starting to dig in and modify your AOSP tree to fit your needs. All you need to do to test your modifications is to rebuild the AOSP, start the emulator again, and, if need be, shell back into it using ADB. If you want to maximize your efforts, however, you’ll likely want some insight into Android’s build system.

Despite its modularity, Android’s build system is fairly complex and doesn’t resemble any of the mainstream build systems out there; none that are used for most open source projects, at least. Specifically, it uses make in a fairly unconventional way and doesn’t provide any sort of menuconfig-based configuration (or equivalent for that matter). Android very much has its own build paradigm that takes some time to get used to. So grab yourself a good coffee or two—things are about to get serious.

Warning

Like the rest of the AOSP, the build system is a moving target. So while the following information should remain valid for a long time, you should be on the lookout for changes in the AOSP version you’re using.

Comparison with Other Build Systems

Before I start explaining how Android’s build system works, allow me to begin by emphasizing how it differs from what you might already know. First and foremost, unlike most make-based build systems, the Android build system ...