Connect a third-party library in the project Android Studio

Firstly, if the library is of high quality, then the author of the library, as a rule, gives instructions on how to connect it to your project - they should be followed first.

Android Studio itself allows you to connect three types of libraries to your project:

• from the Maven repository

• library as a compiled .jar file

• source library

To perform this work, there is a graphical interface in Android Studio, but old-school coders can do the same work by writing the necessary commands to the gradle configs manually.
Open the project structure window ( File -> Project Structure ) and go to the main project module - the Modules section on the left, click on the module name of your application (in the screenshot this is the app ). In the window that opens, go to the Dependencies tab. Here you can manage connected dependencies: add new ones, delete unnecessary ones and move them around the hierarchy.

In order to add a dependency, click on the плюсик on the right and see three points - consider them in more detail:

1. Library dependency - add library from external repository

This item requires, as a rule, the least amount of effort. Usually, by default, in the gradle config of the entire project, JCenter used as an external repository and all self-respecting developers put their work there, but you can register other repositories with libraries in that config if you need it.
When selecting item 1, a search window appears in which you can type the name of the required library and, if it is present in the repository, you will see it. Pressing the OK button will do all the dirty work of connecting the library and after the gradle necessary manipulations for downloading and importing it will be available in your project.

If you do not trust the tools of Android Studio and want to manually add the library from the repository yourself, you need to register in the dependencies{} section of the build.gradle your application a link to the required library:

 dependencies { compile 'com.mikepenz:materialdrawer:2.9.8' } 

If you make any changes to the gradle configs, a warning appears about the need to synchronize the project - when all changes are made, click the Sync Now link in the upper right to apply your changes to the gradle .

2. File dependency - add a library from a local compiled .jar file

Before you start importing the local library as a .jar file, you must copy the library file itself into the /libs folder of your project.
When selecting item 2, a standard file selection dialog will appear, in which you need to specify the actual library file itself.
When you click the OK button, gradle will perform some import manipulations, which will take some time, after which the library will be available in your project.

In order to manually do the same thing - to add a library based on the .jar file, in the dependencies{} section of the build.gradle application build.gradle you need to register the following:

 dependencies { compile files('libs/realm.jar') } 

In order to connect all the libraries from the /libs/ folder at once, you need to do this:

 dependencies { compile fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs') } 

3. Module dependency - add a library from source

Before importing the library from source codes, you need to download the source codes themselves and unpack them to a directory.
For the least problems:

• source codes should be gradle-проектом Android Studio/IntelliJ IDEA gradle-проектом

• The names of the main module and the plugin library module should not be the same.

• the source is a library, not an application (in the build.gradle of what you connect is specified apply plugin: 'com.android.library' ) - you can fix this yourself in the gradle config of what you connect.

• The minimum SDK versions of your project and library should be the same - you can fix it yourself in the gradle gradle project or library.

• BuildTools versions of the project and library must match (recommended), or both versions must be installed in your SDK (not recommended) . The best solution is to always use the latest version of BuildTools

To begin with, we import the necessary library into our project as a module. Click File -> New -> Import Module , specify the path to the root folder with unzipped sources, and follow the other instructions of the import wizard.

After that, selecting item 3 (see the first screenshot), the module selection window appears, clicking the right one and pressing the OK button will work on importing into your project, after which the library will be available in your project.

Adding a library based on source codes manually is a bit of a chore and I will not describe it. Connoisseurs of the manual configuration of the project will enjoy, having done the "sacrament" on their own, and the rest without any need.