Where do external libraries live in an APK?

Question

I was wondering, when adding a external jar to a android project, where do they actually live inside the APK package? I can't seem to find them.

Since Java usually loads classes at runtime as needed, it weirds me out that they don't seem to be in the distributable.

Is dex different? are these static builds?

Answer 1

If by "external libraries" you mean "library projects", the answer to this question can be found in the documentation :

When you build an application that depends on a library project, the SDK tools compile the library into a temporary JAR file and uses it in the main project, then uses the result to generate the .apk.

The separate .jar s that you are referring to don't exist; they are merged into a single .apk at compile time.