How does the Android build process work?

Question

I've found a good article on how the Android build process works, which shows the following process:

However, I've also seen another article which says that it uses javac to convert all files to .class files, then the dx tool in the adk converts all .class files to classes.dex, like so:

Please can someone clarify which one is correct?

Answer 1

You can take a look at the official document Building and Running http://developer.android.com/tools/building/index.html

Answer 2

Java source code is compiled to .class files by javac, and then the class files are converted to Dalvik bytecode by the "dx" tool, which is included in the sdk 'tools'.

Answer 3

Here is a good explanation of android build process

Answer 4

Android Build System in detail