docs/html/ndk/guides/application_mk.jd

page.title=Application.mk
@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper">
    <div id="qv">
      <h2>On this page</h2>

      <ol>
        <li><a href="#over">Overview</a></li>
        <li><a href="#var">Variables</a></li>
      </ol>
    </div>
  </div>

<p>This document explains the {@code Application.mk} build file, which describes the
native <em>modules</em> that your app requires. A module can be a static library, a shared library,
or an executable.</p>

<p>We recommend that you read the <a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/concepts.html">Concepts</a> and
<a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/android_mk.html">Android.mk</a> pages before this one. Doing so will
help maximize your understanding of the material on this page. </p>

<h2 id="over">Overview</h2>
The {@code Application.mk} file is really a tiny GNU Makefile fragment that defines several
variables for compilation. It usually resides under {@code $PROJECT/jni/}, where {@code $PROJECT}
points to your application's project directory. Another alternative is to place it under a
sub-directory of the top-level {@code $NDK/apps/} directory. For example:</p>

<pre>
$NDK/apps/&lt;myapp&gt;/Application.mk
</pre>

<p>Here, {@code &lt;myapp&gt;} is a short name used to describe your app to the NDK build system. It
doesn't actually go into your generated shared libraries or your final packages.</p>

<h2 id="var">Variables</h2>
<h4>APP_PROJECT_PATH</h4>
<p>This variable stores the absolute path to your app's project-root directory. The build system
uses this information to place stripped-down versions of the generated JNI shared libraries
into a specific location known to the APK-generating tools.</p>

<p>If you place your {@code Application.mk} file under {@code $NDK/apps/&lt;myapp&gt;/}, you must
define this variable. If you place it under {@code $PROJECT/jni/}, it is optional.

<h4>APP_OPTIM</h4>
<p>Define this optional variable as either {@code release} or {@code debug}. You use it to
alter the optimization level when building your application's modules.</p>

<p>Release mode is the default, and generates highly optimized binaries. Debug mode generates
unoptimized binaries that are much easier to debug.</p>

<p>Note that you can debug either release or debug binaries. Release binaries, however, provide less
information during debugging. For example, the build system optimizes out some variables,
preventing you from inspecting them. Also, code re-ordering can make it more difficult to step
through the code; stack traces may not be reliable.</p>

<p>Declaring {@code android:debuggable} in your application manifest's {@code &lt;application&gt;}
tag will cause this variable to default to {@code debug} instead of {@code release}. Override this
default value by setting {@code APP_OPTIM} to {@code release}.</p>


<h4>APP_CFLAGS</h4>
<p>This variable stores a set of C compiler flags that the build system passes to the compiler
when compiling any C or C++ source code for any of the modules. You can use this variable to change
the build of a given module according to the application that needs it, instead of having to modify
the {@code Android.mk} file itself. </p>


<p>All paths in these flags should be relative to the top-level NDK directory. For example, if you
have the following setup:</p>

<pre>
sources/foo/Android.mk
sources/bar/Android.mk
</pre>

<p>To specify in {@code foo/Android.mk} that you want to add the path to the {@code bar} sources
during compilation, you should use:

<pre>
APP_CFLAGS += -Isources/bar
</pre>

<p>Or, alternatively:</p>

<pre>
APP_CFLAGS += -I$(LOCAL_PATH)/../bar
</pre>

<p>{@code -I../bar} will not work since it is equivalent to
{@code -I$NDK_ROOT/../bar}.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note: </strong>This variable only works on C, not C++, sources in
android-ndk-1.5_r1. In all versions after that one, {@code APP_CFLAGS} matches the full Android
build system.</p>

<h4>APP_CPPFLAGS</h4>
<p>This variable contains a set of C++ compiler flags that the build system passes to the compiler
when building only C++ sources.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note: </strong> In android-ndk-1.5_r1, this variable works on both C and
C++ sources. In all subsequent versions of the NDK, {@code APP_CPPFLAGS} now matches the full
Android build system. For flags that apply to both C and C++ sources, use {@code APP_CFLAGS}.</p>

<h4>APP_LDFLAGS</h4>
<p>A set of linker flags that the build system passes when linking the application. This variable
is only relevant when the build system is building shared libraries and executables. When the
build system builds static libraries, it ignores these flags.</p>

<h4>APP_BUILD_SCRIPT</h4>
<p>By default, the NDK build system looks under {@code jni/} for a file named
<a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/android_mk.html">{@code Android.mk}</a>.</p>

<p>If you want to override this behavior, you can define {@code APP_BUILD_SCRIPT} to point to an
alternate build script. The build system always interprets a non-absolute path as relative to the
NDK's top-level directory.</p>

<h4>APP_ABI</h4>
<p>By default, the NDK build system generates machine code for the
<a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/abis.html">{@code armeabi}</a> ABI. This machine code
corresponds to an ARMv5TE-based CPU with software floating point operations. You can use
{@code APP_ABI} to select a different ABI. Table 1 shows the {@code APP_ABI}
settings for different instruction sets.</p>

<p class="table-caption" id="table1">
  <strong>Table 1.</strong> {@code APP_ABI} settings for different instruction sets.</p>
<table>
  <tr>
    <th scope="col">Instruction set</th>
    <th scope="col">Value</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Hardware FPU instructions on ARMv7 based devices</td>
    <td>{@code APP_ABI := armeabi-v7a}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>ARMv8 AArch64</td>
    <td>{@code APP_ABI := arm64-v8a}</td>
  </tr>
    <tr>
    <td>IA-32</td>
    <td>{@code APP_ABI := x86}</td>
  </tr>
    <tr>
    <td>Intel64</td>
    <td>{@code APP_ABI := x86_64}</td>
  </tr>
    <tr>
    <td>MIPS32</td>
    <td>{@code APP_ABI := mips}</td>
  </tr>
    <tr>
    <td>MIPS64 (r6)</td>
    <td>{@code APP_ABI := mips64}</td>
  </tr>
    <tr>
    <td>All supported instruction sets</td>
    <td>{@code APP_ABI := all}</td>
  </tr>
</table>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> {@code all} is available starting from NDKr7.</p>

<p>You can also specify multiple values by placing them on the same line, delimited by spaces.
For example:</p>

<pre>
APP_ABI := armeabi armeabi-v7a x86 mips
</pre>

<p>For the list of all supported ABIs and details about their usage and limitations, refer to
<a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/abis.html">ABI Management</a>.</p>

<h4>APP_PLATFORM</h4>
<p>This variable contains the name of the target Android platform. For example, {@code android-3}
specifies the Android 1.5 system images. For a complete list of platform names and corresponding
Android system images, see <a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/stable_apis.html">Android NDK Native APIs
</a>.</p>

<h4>APP_STL</h4>
<p>By default, the NDK build system provides C++ headers for the minimal C++ runtime library
({@code system/lib/libstdc++.so}) provided by the Android system. In addition, it comes with
alternative C++ implementations that you can use or link to in your own applications.
Use {@code APP_STL} to select one of them. For information about the supported runtimes, and the
features they offer, see <a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/cpp-support.html#runtimes">NDK Runtimes and
Features</a>.

<h4>APP_SHORT_COMMANDS</h4>
<p>The equivalent of {@code LOCAL_SHORT_COMMANDS} in {@code Application.mk} for your whole project.
For more information, see the documentation for this variable on
<a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/android_mk.html">{@code Android.mk}</a>.</p>

<h4>NDK_TOOLCHAIN_VERSION</h4>
<p>Define this variable as either {@code 4.9} or {@code 4.8} to select a version of the GCC
compiler. Version 4.9 is the default for 64-bit ABIs, and 4.8 is the default for 32-bit ABIs.
To select a version of Clang, define this variable as {@code clang3.4}, {@code clang3.5}, or
{@code clang}. Specifying {@code clang} chooses the most recent version of Clang.</p>

<h4>APP_PIE</h4>
<p>Starting from Android 4.1 (API level 16), Android's dynamic linker supports position-independent
executables (PIE). From Android 5.0 (API level 21), executables require PIE.

To use PIE to build your executables, set the {@code -fPIE} flag. This flag makes it harder to
exploit memory corruption bugs by randomizing code location. By default, {@code ndk-build}
automatically sets this value to {@code true} if your project targets {@code android-16} or higher.
You may set it manually to either {@code true} or {@code false}.</p>

<p>This flag applies only to executables. It has no effect when building shared or static
libraries.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note: </strong> PIE executables cannot run on Android releases prior to 4.1.
<p>This restriction only applies to executables. It has no effect when building shared or static
libraries.</p>

<h4>APP_THIN_ARCHIVE</h4>
<p>Sets the default value of {@code LOCAL_THIN_ARCHIVE} in the {@code Android.mk} file for all
static library modules in this project. For more information, see the documentation for
{@code LOCAL_THIN_ARCHIVE} on <a href="{@docRoot}ndk/guides/android_mk.html">{@code Android.mk}.</a>
</p>