Google and ARM are working on faster ART compiler

Google and ARM have teamed up to develop a new compiler to replace the current ART compiler, which runs on Android 4.4 and above. The Optimizing compiler could make Android apps significantly faster, although it takes longer to compile.

ART, which stands for Android Runtime, became available in Android 4.4 as an option for the slower Dalvik runtime. In Android 5.0 Lollipop, the ART runtime became the default, resulting in apps running faster. However, ART currently still uses a so-called mixed ahead-of-time compiler, called Quick. This is still partly based on the Dalvik compiler and therefore does not make optimal use of ART and more recent processor technology. Google and ARM have therefore decided to jointly develop a new, better optimized compiler. This one is called Optimizing, writes Android Authority.

Optimizing can support 64bit code used in ARM’s AArch64 64bit architecture, among other things. ARM is working on this part of the compiler while Google is developing a 32bit version. In addition, according to the makers, Optimizing could make more complex optimizations in the Java code to be compiled, and an improved register allocation mechanism is in place.

Optimizing is still in the works, but the compiler could currently run Android software up to 40 percent faster in certain benchmarks. Some drawbacks are that the compilation itself takes a little longer and the file size increases by 10 percent, but the developers believe they can reduce these side effects with future changes. Google may reveal more about when Optimizing will be included in Android at its I/O developer conference in late May.