How to open Android executable .dex files
Have you had trouble opening the dex file on your computer? What are dex files? We explain what they are and recommend software that we know will open them.
What is dex file?
dex files are special compiled executable used on the Google Android platform. So called Dalvik Executable.
Android executable description
DEX (Dalvik Executable) file is a compiled file format used by the Android operating system. It is created by the Android SDK and contains compiled Java code that can be executed by the Android operating system.
The DEX file format is optimized for running on low memory devices, such as smartphones and tablets. It is designed to be efficiently processed by the Dalvik virtual machine, which is the component of the Android operating system responsible for executing applications. In other words, when you write an Android app in Java, the Java source code is first compiled into Java bytecode by the Java compiler. Then, the Android SDK takes this bytecode and converts it into DEX bytecode, which is stored in a .dex file. This .dex file is then packaged into an APK (Android Package) file, which is the file that gets installed on an Android device.
Suggested software to open dex file

Google Android
One of the most popular OS for mobile systems

Google Android SDK for Linux
Set of tools that allows programmers to create applications for Android

Google Android SDK Tools for Mac
Set of utilities for Google Android SDK

Google Android SDK Tools for Linux
Linux version of the tools for Google Android SDK

Eclipse with ADT Plugin for Mac
OS X version of IDE for making Android apps

Eclipse with ADT Plugin for Linux
Linux version of IDE for making Android apps

Android Studio
Integrated development environment for Google Android apps

Google Android SDK
All the neccesary SDK development tools for making Android app

Google Android SDK Tools
SDK Tools for making Android apps

Eclipse with ADT Plugin
Specialized IDE for making apps for Google Android
There are other DEX filename extensions with the same .dex suffix
dex - DEXIS dental radiograph data
Files with dex file extension can be found as special images that contain digitally captured dental radiographs. Captured by dentist X-rays.
dex - Disketch project
Files with dex file extension are associated with the Disketch and used for its labeling projects.
dex - Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
Files with dex file extension could also be found as old spreadsheets from some earlier version of Microsoft Excel.