How to compile APK from command line?

Question

I am interested in making Android apps on demand. Depending on the clients request, my web site would send me a JSON file direct to a Windows application that I have created

Answer 1

Android doesn't directly use ANT build systems now. It uses Gradle, which is based on Groovy. You can learn more about build systems here.

You can see the list of available tasks you can run on using this command

gradlew tasks

To initiate a debug build, invoke the assembleDebug task

gradlew assembleDebug

You can install your app using the adb tool via this command

adb install path/to/your_app.apk

To learn more about building on command line, follow this comprehensive article.

Also you can read this article on "Why Build Your Java Projects with Gradle Rather than Ant or Maven?"