When Android KitKat rolled out we got our first glimpse of what could be the new runtime heading to Android. Dubbed ART, it was introduced as a preview for enthusiast users and came with a fare share of warnings. Code changes spotted in a recent commit to the AOSP ie Android Open Source Project suggest that the switchover from Dalvik to ART may be coming sooner rather than later. Owing to the rapid adoption in the community, numerous bug reports, it is quite possible that the Android team has managed to get the runtime ready for primetime sooner than expected.
So what exactly is ART? ART stands for Android Runtime and aims to replace Dalvik as the default runtime on Android devices while drastically improving performance. The current runtime relies on JIT ie Just In Time compiling which results in a fairly significant overhead on the handset. ART on the other hand relies on Ahead Of Time compilation which compiles applications while they’re being installed. This increases app installation size a bit but results in much improved app performance. Will ART make its way to the next release remains uncertain but for now it has been made the default runtime in the master branch. We’ll have more on this as we find out.
[Via – Android Police]