ProGuard Main
Author: Eric Lafortune
Description: ProGuard: java shrinker, optimizer, obfuscator, and preverifier
Keywords: java obfuscator, optimizer, shrinker, preverfier

## Main

ProGuard is a free Java class file shrinker, optimizer, obfuscator, and preverifier. It detects and removes unused classes, fields, methods, and attributes. It optimizes bytecode and removes unused instructions. It renames the remaining classes, fields, and methods using short meaningless names. The resulting applications and libraries are smaller, faster, and a bit better hardened against reverse engineering.

Typical applications:

- Reducing the size of Android apps for faster downloads from Google Play, shorter startup times, and smaller memory footprints.
- Optimizing code for better performance on mobile devices.
- Protecting applications and libraries against reverse-engineering and tampering.

ProGuard's main advantage compared to other Java obfuscators is probably its compact template-based configuration. A few intuitive command line options or a simple configuration file are usually sufficient. The user manual explains all available options and shows examples of this powerful configuration style.

ProGuard is fast. It only takes seconds to process programs and libraries of several megabytes. The results section presents actual figures for a number of applications.

ProGuard is a command-line tool with an optional graphical user interface. It also comes with plugins for Ant, for Gradle, and for the JME Wireless Toolkit. It is already part of Google's Android SDK, where it can be enabled with a simple flag.

ProGuard provides basic protection against reverse engineering and tampering, with basic name obfuscation. DexGuard, its specialized commercial extension for Android, focuses further on the protection of apps, additionally optimizing, obfuscating and encrypting strings, classes, resources, resource files, asset files, and native libraries. Professional developers should definitely consider it for security-sensitive apps.

The following sections provide more detailed information:

- Main: this overview page.
- Results: some results obtained with ProGuard, including timings and memory usage.
- FAQ: answers to some Frequently Asked Questions.
- Manual: the complete ProGuard user manual, with examples and troubleshooting tips.
- Quality: a discussion of the (excellent) quality of ProGuard's code.
- Screenshots: some impressions of what ProGuard looks like.
- Testimonials: what users think of ProGuard.
- License: ProGuard is free, under a GPL license.
- Downloads: download the ProGuard package yourself.
- Feedback: tell me about your experiences, or learn from others on our forums.
- Acknowledgements: people who have been helpful.
- Alternatives: other Java obfuscators, optimizers, and shrinkers.