| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | # FAQ |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [TOC] |
| 4 | |
| 5 | ## General FAQ |
| 6 | |
| alanv | f6f6434 | 2021-12-15 09:12:20 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 7 | ### What is `androidx`? |
| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 8 | |
| alanv | aaaabfa | 2022-06-14 12:11:57 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 9 | Artifacts within the `androidx` package comprise the libraries of |
| 10 | [Android Jetpack](https://developer.android.com/jetpack). |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Libraries in the `androidx` package provide functionality that extends the |
| 13 | capabilities of the Android platform. These libraries, which ship separately |
| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 14 | from the Android OS, focus on improving the experience of developing apps |
| 15 | through broad OS- and device-level compatibility, high-level abstractions to |
| 16 | simplify and unify platform features, and other new features that target |
| alanv | aaaabfa | 2022-06-14 12:11:57 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 17 | developer pain points. |
| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 18 | |
| alanv | 842f5e0 | 2022-10-11 07:25:45 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 19 | ### How are `androidx` and AndroidX related to Jetpack? |
| 20 | |
| 21 | They are effectively the same thing! |
| 22 | |
| 23 | **Jetpack** is the external branding for the set of components, tools, and |
| 24 | guidance that improve the developer experience on Android. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Libraries within Jetpack use the **`androidx`** Java package and Maven group ID. |
| 27 | Developers expect these libraries to follow a consistent set of API design |
| 28 | guidelines, conform to SemVer and alpha/beta revision cycles, and use the public |
| 29 | Android issue tracker for bugs and feature requests. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | **AndroidX** is the open-source project where the majority\* of Jetpack |
| 32 | libraries are developed. The project's tooling and infrastructure enforce the |
| 33 | policies associated with Jetback branding and `androidx` packaging, allowing |
| 34 | library developers to focus on writing and releasing high-quality code. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | <sup>* Except a small number of libraries that were historically developed using |
| 37 | a different workflow, such as ExoPlayer/Media or AndroidX Test, and have built |
| 38 | up equivalent policies and processes. |
| 39 | |
| alanv | f6f6434 | 2021-12-15 09:12:20 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 40 | ### Why did we move to `androidx`? |
| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 41 | |
| 42 | Please read our |
| 43 | [blog post](https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2018/05/hello-world-androidx.html) |
| alanv | f6f6434 | 2021-12-15 09:12:20 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 44 | about our migration. |
| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 45 | |
| 46 | ### What happened to the Support Library? |
| 47 | |
| 48 | As part of the Jetpack effort to improve developer experience on Android, the |
| 49 | Support Library team undertook a massive refactoring project. Over the course of |
| 50 | 2017 and 2018, we streamlined and enforced consistency in our packaging, |
| alanv | 842f5e0 | 2022-10-11 07:25:45 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 51 | developed new policies around versioning and releasing, and developed tools to |
| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 52 | make it easy for developers to migrate. |
| 53 | |
| 54 | ### Will there be any more updates to Support Library? |
| 55 | |
| alanv | f6f6434 | 2021-12-15 09:12:20 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 56 | No, revision `28.0.0` of the Support Library, which launched as stable in |
| AndroidX Core Team | 408c27b | 2020-12-15 15:57:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 57 | September 2018, was the last feature release in the `android.support` package. |
| 58 | There will be no further releases under Support Library packaging and they |
| 59 | should be considered deprecated. |
| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 60 | |
| AndroidX Core Team | 408c27b | 2020-12-15 15:57:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 61 | ### What library versions have been officially released? |
| AndroidX Core Team | 2e416b2 | 2020-12-03 22:58:07 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 62 | |
| 63 | You can see all publicly released versions on the interactive |
| alanv | 842f5e0 | 2022-10-11 07:25:45 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 64 | [Google Maven page](https://maven.google.com). |
