docs/Building-the-Dart-VM-for-Android.md - sdk.git - Git at Google

 > [!IMPORTANT]
 > This page was copied from https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/wiki and needs review.
 > Please [contribute](../CONTRIBUTING.md) changes to bring it up-to-date -
 > removing this header - or send a CL to delete the file.

 ---

 # Introduction

 It is possible to build and run the standalone Dart VM for Android devices. This setup is not yet thoroughly tested, but is available for experimentation.

 ## Limitations

 * The host (build) machine must be an x86 Linux machine.
 * The target (Android) device must be a device or emulator that supports the Android NDK.
 * The resulting Android Dart VM can only be run from the Android command line.
 * The resulting Android Dart VM only has access to dart:core APIs. It does not have access to the Android C or Java APIs.
 * The Android-related tools and emulator image files will take about 2GB of disk space on the host machine.

 # One-time Setup

 Download and install the Dart source tree using the standard instructions for building Dart.

 Use a text editor to add the following line to the very bottom of your Dart .gclient file (which is located in the directory that contains the main 'dart' directory):

 `download_android_deps = True`

 Run gclient sync to install the Android NDK and SDK. This may take 10 minutes or more depending upon the speed of your Internet connection

 `$ gclient sync`

 # Building for Android

 Once you've set up your build tree, you can build the Dart VM for Android by using the standard Dart build script with the addition of the --os android build flag:

 `$ tools/build.py --no-goma --arch=arm,arm64,ia32,x64 --os=android runtime`

 # Testing the result

 Adding `adb` to your path

 For convenience, add the path to the adb tool to your shell PATH:

 `$ export PATH=$PATH:path-to-dart/third_party/android_tools/sdk/platform-tools`

 Starting an Android emulator

 You can start an emulator running, by using the android_finder.py script:

 `$ runtime/tools/android_finder.py -a {armeabi-v7a, x86} -b`

 The -a flag says to find an Android device for the specified architecture. The -b flag says to start (or bootstrap) a new emulator if no existing emulator or device with a given ABI can be found. This script could take up to 20 seconds to run if a new emulator needs to be started.

 ## Running the Dart VM on an Android emulator

 Once you have finished building the Android Dart VM and have a running Android emulator, you can run Dart scripts on the emulator as follows:

 Create a directory on the Android emulator.

 `$ adb shell mkdir /data/local/tmp/dart`

 Copy the Dart VM executable to the Android emulator:

 `$ adb push out/android/ReleaseAndroid{ARM,ARM64,IA32,X64}/dart /data/local/tmp/dart/dart`

 Create a simple Dart test script:

 `$ echo "main(){ print(\"Hello, world\!\");}" >hello.dart`

 Copy the Dart test script to the Android emulator:

 `$ adb push hello.dart /data/local/tmp/dart`

 Run the Dart VM with the test script:

 `$ adb shell /data/local/tmp/dart/dart /data/local/tmp/dart/hello.dart`

 Hello, world!

 ## Stopping an Android Emulator

 You can list all currently attached Android devices, including emulators, using the adb command:

 `$ adb devices`

 You can stop a running emulator using the adb emu kill command:

 `$ adb emu kill           ← if there is just one emulator running`

 or

 `$ adb -s emulator-name emu kill    ← if there is more than one emulator running`

 ## Running the Dart VM on an Android device

 First, make sure that the "USB Debugging" mode is enabled by navigating to Settings > Developer options > USB debugging. The box should be checked. You may need to have root on the device.

 Now, plug in your device. Then, run:

 `$ adb devices`

 There should be an entry for your device, such as:

 ```
 List of devices attached
 TA23701VKR  device
 ```

 Now, you can copy dart and hello.dart to the device as above. If an emulator is also running, be sure to give adb the -d switch to tell it to use the attached device instead of the emulator. Use the -s switch to give the device ID explicitly.

 # Notes

 The only effect of the `target_os` line in the Dart `.gclient` configuration file is to install the Android tools. Despite what the name `target_os` implies, the target_os line does not affect which OS is targeted. Therefore, once you've installed the Android tools you can (and should) leave the `target_os = ["android"]` line in place even when switching back and forth between building for Android and building for Linux.
	> [!IMPORTANT]
	> This page was copied from https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/wiki and needs review.
	> Please [contribute](../CONTRIBUTING.md) changes to bring it up-to-date -
	> removing this header - or send a CL to delete the file.

	---

	# Introduction

	It is possible to build and run the standalone Dart VM for Android devices. This setup is not yet thoroughly tested, but is available for experimentation.

	## Limitations

	* The host (build) machine must be an x86 Linux machine.
	* The target (Android) device must be a device or emulator that supports the Android NDK.
	* The resulting Android Dart VM can only be run from the Android command line.
	* The resulting Android Dart VM only has access to dart:core APIs. It does not have access to the Android C or Java APIs.
	* The Android-related tools and emulator image files will take about 2GB of disk space on the host machine.

	# One-time Setup

	Download and install the Dart source tree using the standard instructions for building Dart.

	Use a text editor to add the following line to the very bottom of your Dart .gclient file (which is located in the directory that contains the main 'dart' directory):

	`download_android_deps = True`

	Run gclient sync to install the Android NDK and SDK. This may take 10 minutes or more depending upon the speed of your Internet connection

	`$ gclient sync`

	# Building for Android

	Once you've set up your build tree, you can build the Dart VM for Android by using the standard Dart build script with the addition of the --os android build flag:

	`$ tools/build.py --no-goma --arch=arm,arm64,ia32,x64 --os=android runtime`

	# Testing the result

	Adding `adb` to your path

	For convenience, add the path to the adb tool to your shell PATH:

	`$ export PATH=$PATH:path-to-dart/third_party/android_tools/sdk/platform-tools`

	Starting an Android emulator

	You can start an emulator running, by using the android_finder.py script:

	`$ runtime/tools/android_finder.py -a {armeabi-v7a, x86} -b`

	The -a flag says to find an Android device for the specified architecture. The -b flag says to start (or bootstrap) a new emulator if no existing emulator or device with a given ABI can be found. This script could take up to 20 seconds to run if a new emulator needs to be started.

	## Running the Dart VM on an Android emulator

	Once you have finished building the Android Dart VM and have a running Android emulator, you can run Dart scripts on the emulator as follows:

	Create a directory on the Android emulator.

	`$ adb shell mkdir /data/local/tmp/dart`

	Copy the Dart VM executable to the Android emulator:

	`$ adb push out/android/ReleaseAndroid{ARM,ARM64,IA32,X64}/dart /data/local/tmp/dart/dart`

	Create a simple Dart test script:

	`$ echo "main(){ print(\"Hello, world\!\");}" >hello.dart`

	Copy the Dart test script to the Android emulator:

	`$ adb push hello.dart /data/local/tmp/dart`

	Run the Dart VM with the test script:

	`$ adb shell /data/local/tmp/dart/dart /data/local/tmp/dart/hello.dart`

	Hello, world!

	## Stopping an Android Emulator

	You can list all currently attached Android devices, including emulators, using the adb command:

	`$ adb devices`

	You can stop a running emulator using the adb emu kill command:

	`$ adb emu kill ← if there is just one emulator running`

	or

	`$ adb -s emulator-name emu kill ← if there is more than one emulator running`

	## Running the Dart VM on an Android device

	First, make sure that the "USB Debugging" mode is enabled by navigating to Settings > Developer options > USB debugging. The box should be checked. You may need to have root on the device.

	Now, plug in your device. Then, run:

	`$ adb devices`

	There should be an entry for your device, such as:

	```
	List of devices attached
	TA23701VKR device
	```

	Now, you can copy dart and hello.dart to the device as above. If an emulator is also running, be sure to give adb the -d switch to tell it to use the attached device instead of the emulator. Use the -s switch to give the device ID explicitly.

	# Notes

	The only effect of the `target_os` line in the Dart `.gclient` configuration file is to install the Android tools. Despite what the name `target_os` implies, the target_os line does not affect which OS is targeted. Therefore, once you've installed the Android tools you can (and should) leave the `target_os = ["android"]` line in place even when switching back and forth between building for Android and building for Linux.