Java 8 Language Features Support Update

Posted by James Lau, Product Manager

Yesterday, we released Android Studio 2.4 Preview 6. Java 8 language features are now supported by the Android build system in the javac/dx compilation path. Android Studio's Gradle plugin now desugars Java 8 class files to Java 7-compatible class files, so you can use lambdas, method references and other features of Java 8.

For those of you who tried the Jack compiler, we now support the same set of Java 8 language features but with faster build speed. You can use Java 8 language features together with tools that rely on bytecode, including Instant Run. Using libraries written with Java 8 is also supported.

We first added Java 8 desugaring in Android Studio 2.4 Preview 4. Preview 6 includes important bug fixes related to Java 8 language features support. Many of these fixes were made in response to bug reports you filed. We really appreciate your help in improving Android development tools for the community!

It's easy to try using Java 8 language features in your Android project. Just download Android Studio 2.4 Preview 6, and update your project's target and source compatibility to Java version 1.8. You can find more information in our preview documentation.

Happy lambda'ing!