To ∞ (~65K) and beyond!
summary
Android hits a hard limit because the method reference index is 16 bits, so only 65,536 references fit; when exceeded builds fail with Too many method references (max 65536). Practical fixes: enable multiDex in Gradle (support lib works but adds startup cost and Dalvik instability pre‑Lollipop), or manually create secondary .dex files with a custom classloader (interfaces preferred over reflection). Best first step is shrinking with ProGuard (be specific with keep rules — a bad rule can waste ~6,000 methods). Use ClassyShark and dexcount to find culprits.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Start
- 4:53Crossing the limit
- 7:02Approaches
- 10:13Setup 3/3
- 12:18Disadvantages
- 14:54Secondary DEX
- 15:49How does it work
- 17:50Quick example w Reflection
- 21:46Improvements
- 32:29ClassyShark
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