What is .iml file in android studio?

If you are migrating from IntelliJ and your project already uses Gradle, you can open your existing project from Android Studio. If you are using IntelliJ but your project doesn't already use Gradle, you need to manually prepare your project before you can import it into Android Studio. For more information, see the Migrate from IntelliJ section.

Here are some of the key differences to be aware of as you prepare to migrate to Android Studio.

Android Studio is based on the IntelliJ IDEA IDE. To familiarize yourself with the IDE basics, such as navigation, code completion, and keyboard shortcuts, see Meet Android Studio.

Android Studio organizes code into projects, which contain everything that defines your Android app, from app source code to build configurations and test code. Projects open in separate Android Studio windows. Each project contains one or more modules, which let you divide your project into discrete units of functionality. Modules can be independently built, tested, and debugged.

For more information about Android Studio projects and modules, see the Projects overview.

Android Studio’s build system is based on Gradle and uses build configuration files written in either Groovy or Kotlin script for ease of extensibility and customization.

Gradle-based projects offer significant features for Android development, including the following:

For more information about using and configuring Gradle, see Configure your build.

Library dependencies in Android Studio use Gradle dependency declarations and Maven dependencies for well-known local source and binary libraries with Maven coordinates. For more information, see Declare dependencies.

If your IntelliJ project uses the Gradle build system, you can import your project directly into Android Studio. If your IntelliJ project uses Maven or another build system, you need to set it up to work with Gradle before you can migrate to Android Studio.

If you are already using Gradle with your IntelliJ project, open it in Android Studio using the following steps:

If your IntelliJ project doesn't already use the Gradle build system, you have two options for importing your project into Android Studio, which are described in the sections that follow:

To migrate your project into Android Studio by creating a new empty project and copying your source files into the new directories, proceed as follows:

To migrate your project into Android Studio by creating a new Gradle build file to point to your existing source files, proceed as follows:

Once you have migrated your project to Android Studio, learn more about building with Gradle and running your app in Android Studio by reading Build and run your app.

Depending on your project and workflow, you may also want to learn more about version control, managing dependencies, and configuring Android Studio. To get started using Android Studio, read Meet Android Studio.

Android Studio supports a variety of version control systems, including Git, Mercurial, and Subversion. Other version control systems can be added through plugins.

If your app is already under source control, you might need to enable it in Android Studio. From the VCS menu, click Enable Version Control Integration and select the appropriate version control system.

If your app is not under source control, you can configure it after importing your app into Android Studio. Use the Android Studio VCS menu options to enable VCS support for the desired version control system, create a repository, import the new files into version control, and perform other version control operations:

Note: You can also use the File > Settings > Version Control menu option to set up and modify the version control.

For more information about working with version control, see IntelliJ's Version control reference.

If a debug certificate was used previously, it might be detected during the import process. In this case, Android Studio continues to reference that certificate. Otherwise, the debug configuration uses the Android Studio-generated debug keystore, using a known password and a default key with a known password located in $HOME/.android/debug.keystore. The debug build type is set to use this debug configuration automatically when you run or debug your project from Android Studio.

Similarly, the import process might detect an existing release certificate. If no release certificate was defined previously, add the release signing configuration to the build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file or use the Build > Generate Signed APK menu option to open the Generate Signed APK Wizard. For more information about signing your app, see Sign your app.

By default, Android Studio has a maximum heap size of 1280MB. If you are working on a large project, or your system has a lot of RAM, you can improve performance by increasing the maximum heap size.

Android Studio updates separately from the Gradle plugin, the build tools, and the SDK tools. You can specify which versions you would like to use with Android Studio.

A Google search on iml file turns up:

(from this page)

You do "use gradle scripts to integrate with external modules", or your own modules.

However, Gradle is not IntelliJ IDEA's native project model — that is separate, held in .iml files and the metadata in .idea/ directories. In Android Studio, that stuff is largely generated out of the Gradle build scripts, which is why you are sometimes prompted to "sync project with Gradle files" when you change files like build.gradle. This is also why you don't bother putting .iml files or .idea/ in version control, as their contents will be regenerated.

To a large extent, you can't.

You are welcome to have an Android project that uses the Eclipse-style directory structure (e.g., resources and manifest in the project root directory). You can teach Gradle, via build.gradle, how to find files in that structure. However, other metadata (compileSdkVersion, dependencies, etc.) will not be nearly as easily replicated.

A module file (the . iml file) is used for keeping module configuration. Modules allow you to combine several technologies and frameworks in one application. In IntelliJ IDEA, you can create several modules for a project and each of them can be responsible for its own framework.

A Google search on iml file turns up:

(from this page)

You do "use gradle scripts to integrate with external modules", or your own modules.

However, Gradle is not IntelliJ IDEA's native project model — that is separate, held in .iml files and the metadata in .idea/ directories. In Android Studio, that stuff is largely generated out of the Gradle build scripts, which is why you are sometimes prompted to "sync project with Gradle files" when you change files like build.gradle. This is also why you don't bother putting .iml files or .idea/ in version control, as their contents will be regenerated.

To a large extent, you can't.