Which JDK version (Language Level) is required for Android Studio?

Answer Clarification - Android Studio supports JDK8

The following is an answer to the question "What version of Java does Android support?" which is different from "What version of Java can I use to run Android Studio?" which is I believe what was actually being asked. For those looking to answer the 2nd question, you might find Using Android Studio with Java 1.7 helpful.

Also: See http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#latest for Android Studio system requirements. JDK8 is actually a requirement for PC and linux (as of 5/14/16).

Java 8 update (3/19/14)

Because I'd assume this question will start popping up soon with the release yesterday: As of right now, there's no set date for when Android will support Java 8.

Here's a discussion over at /androiddev - http://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/22mh0r/does_android_have_any_plans_for_java_8/

If you really want lambda support, you can checkout Retrolambda - https://github.com/evant/gradle-retrolambda. I've never used it, but it seems fairly promising.

Another Update: Android added Java 7 support

Android now supports Java 7 (minus try-with-resource feature). You can read more about the Java 7 features here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/13550632/413254. If you're using gradle, you can add the following in your build.gradle:

android {    compileOptions {        sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7        targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7    }}

Older response

I'm using Java 7 with Android Studio without any problems (OS X - 10.8.4). You need to make sure you drop the project language level down to 6.0 though. See the screenshot below.

What tehawtness said below makes sense, too. If they're suggesting JDK 6, it makes sense to just go with JDK 6. Either way will be fine.

Update: See this SO post -- https://stackoverflow.com/a/9567402/413254

Normally, I would go with what the documentation says but if the instructor explicitly said to stick with JDK 6, I'd use JDK 6 because you would want your development environment to be as close as possible to the instructors. It would suck if you ran into an issue and having the thought in the back of your head that maybe it's because you're on JDK 7 that you're having the issue. Btw, I haven't touched Android recently but I personally never ran into issues when I was on JDK 7 but mind you, I only code Android apps casually.

Try not to use JDK versions higher than the ones supported. I've actually ran into a very ambiguous problem a few months ago.

I had a jar library of my own that I compiled with JDK 8, and I was using it in my assignment. It was giving me some kind of preDexDebug error every time I tried running it. Eventually after hours of trying to decipher the error logs I finally had an idea of what was wrong. I checked the system requirements, changed compilers from 8 to 7, and it worked. Looks like putting my jar into a library cost me a few hours rather than save it...