Learn all about Proguard and its features
In today’s modern world, technological advancements have become a boon and also a bane. With the rise of several applications, security threats have become a major concern. Developers are also adopting several measures to fight such risks and ensure the best safety and security for their users. However, there are only a few apps, and almost less than 50% have the proper security platforms. Apps are always at risk of several security threats such as IP theft, loss of important data, app clones, etc.
Amidst all this, there is also the need to maintain the quality and efficiency of the apps. At times, there arises a need to optimize the data and codes within an application. This is done with the help of platforms known as Proguard. This article deals with the definition and characteristics of this platform.
What is Proguard?
As stated above, this platform is one of the best code obfuscation sources. It is trusted with three major tasks Shrinking, optimization, and obfuscation. This tool is available for free and even can pre-verify Java class files. This source can be efficiently used in Android applications which makes its implementation easy for mobile applications. It is also one of the most suitable platform for Java files that are large. With the implementation of such technology, reverse engineering become an almost impossible task.
Reverse Engineering becomes easy to implement within Android applications. It can create difficulties within the app which are difficult to deal with. Therefore, developers must implement Proguard to prevent any such occurrence. It is often referred to as a basic security measure. It is also referred to as one of the simpler methods of protecting an app because of its simple configurations. It provides the utmost safety and security to the codebase of the application.
However, it is important to note here that this security tool is not a one-stop solution for all your security needs. It cannot offer multi-layered protection to the apps. The only significant role it plays is to minimize the app by eradicating variables that are no longer in use. This, as a result, reduces the size of the application.
What are its features?
The several features of Proguard Android are as follows:
Shrinking:
This term refers to the decrease in the size of the APKS. Proguard jaa the ability to find out if any variables are no longer in use within the application. By doing so, it removes all such unused variables from all locations which frees up space and decreases the space taken by an app. This process occurs in two phases namely, code shrinking and resource shrinking.
Optimization
The process of optimizing the bytecode is done under this step. Here, all such instructions that are either not in use or are no longer relevant are removed to free up space. It also detects all such instructions that can be exchanged or replaced with shorter instructions.
Obfuscation
Under this process, the codes within an application are structured in a way that it becomes unintelligible. As a result, reading the codes becomes difficult. Any third party that enters into the space will not be able to decipher or make sense of the codes. As soon as the tool eradicates all the codes that are no longer in use, it starts renaming all the remaining ones.
