Why are build types distinct from product flavors?

Expanding on what @CommonsWare said in the comments, the basic idea is that build types are for different builds of your application that aren't functionally different -- if you have a debug and release version of your app, they're the same app, but one contains debugging code, maybe more logging, etc., and the other is streamlined and optimized and possibly obfuscated via ProGuard. With flavors, the intent is that the app is notably different in some way. The clearest example would be a free vs. a paid version of your app, but developers may also differentiate based on where it's being distributed (which could affect in-app billing API use).

There are developers that make many, many different versions of a similar app for different customers -- an example might be a simple app that opens up a web page in a web view, with different URLs and branding for each version -- this is a good use of flavors.

To reiterate, if it's "the same application", modulo some differences that aren't important to the end user, and especially if all of the variants except for one are for your own testing and development use and only one variant will be deployed to end users, then it's a good candidate for build types. If it's "a different" application and multiple variants would be deployed to users, then perhaps it's a candidate for a product flavor.

You've already seen that there are some functionality differences between build types and flavors, in that some options are supported for one but not the other. But the concepts are different even though they're similar, and there's no plan to merge them together.

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Build Types configure the packaging of our app:

shrinkResources

proguardFile

etc.

Product Flavors configure different classes and resources:

in Flavor1 your MainActivity can do something, while in Flavor2 it can have a different implementation

different app name

etc.

Each product flavor can have its own values of the following properties, among others, which are based on the same properties from defaultConfig:

applicationId

minSdkVersion

targetSdkVersion

versionCode

versionName

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Here's how I distill the difference down to its essence:

buildType is the how of the build.

flavor is the what of the build.

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Both are the essential part of your application in which we have to provide different rules and regulation using build types and product flavors

Both are defined in build.gradle(Module) #Build_Type Which mainly have debugged and release

buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android-optimize.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
        debug {
            buildConfigField "boolean", "FILE_LOGGING", "true"
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
            versionNameSuffix ".debug"
        }
    }

In the above build types, we can provide a different set of rules for debugging and release

#Product_Flavours It depend upon your enviorment like stage,qa or producation

productFlavors {
       staging {
            versionNameSuffix "_STG"
            versionCode 12
            dimension "version"
            buildConfigField "boolean", "shareLog", "true"
            applicationIdSuffix ".staging.abcapp"
            
      }
        QA {
            versionNameSuffix "_awsQA"
            versionCode 01
            dimension "version"
            buildConfigField "boolean", "shareLog", "true"
            applicationIdSuffix ".awsqa.abcapp"
       
        }
        production {
            dimension "version"
            buildConfigField "boolean", "shareLog", "false"
            applicationIdSuffix ".android.abc"
            
        }
    }

Using this you can set your pkg name also u can specify the environment

This build types and product flavours you can chagne from build variants

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The build types are used to indicate debug/release mode with different certificates and enabling Proguard or debuggable flag.

The flavors are used to have custom features (for example free or paid version), minimum and target API levels, device and API requirements like the layout, drawable so you can have different code and resources in different flavors.

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Let's clear with a real life example. Suppose you have a cooked noodles plate. So if you ask the chef that

What is the Build type of it?

s/he will answer like this -

With half boiled water

With less salt

In pressure cooker etc.

That means s/he is describing how s/he build the noodles.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/PPYgTm.png

What is the Production Flavors of it? s/he will answer like this -

Cheesy

Less salty

Less oily

That means s/he is describing what actually now it is in flavor after the build.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/D38crm.jpg

Let's come to the theory -

Build Types: Lets you create and modify build configurations. By default, every module has debug and release build types, but you can define more as needed.

Flavors: Lets you create multiple build flavors, where each flavor specifies a set of configuration settings, such as the module's minimum and target SDK version, and the version code and version name. For example, you might define one flavor that has a minimum SDK of 15 and a target SDK of 21, and another flavor that has a minimum SDK of 19 and a target SDK of 23.

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