How to setup a Google Android Development Environment

You too can develop applications for Google Android devices! This is a relatively quick and easy guide for finding, downloading, and installing the proper FREE applications for development.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• A computer
• An internet connection
• Windows, Linux with X, or Mac
• Lust for coding

1. Eclipse.org

   Download and install Eclipse. They call it an integrated development environment (IDE). This is one of those types of tools that every developer should be using. Sure, it's just a glorified text editor, but the same could be said for Microsoft Word.

   Eclipse is an open source project that became incredibly popular as a general use IDE. Most of the people that I know, regularly use it for C++, Java, and PHP development. Yeah, I know. Maybe I should find some normal friends... Lucky for you though, Eclipse has a simplified install for Windows and OS X. It even comes pre-configured in quite a bit of the distros for you linux users out there.

   So, if you still have a need... Goto http://www.eclipse.org, click Download. I would choose the version for Java EE developers, as it contains the features required for Andriod development (specifically JDT and WST). Once downloaded, locate the archive file (zip / tar) and extract or expand it to a location that you will remember.

   Interesting enough, you can run the application from that directory.

2. Android Developer Challenge

   Download and install the Google Android SDK. A Software Development Kit is exactly that -- a kit for developing software. This provides the essential libraries needed for Android application development and testing.

   The download is pretty simple. Go to http://code.google.com/android/download.html, read and agree to the license and click the "continue" button. Choose the platform that you are currently running on. Once downloaded, locate the archive file and extract or expand it to a location that you will remember. Note the location, as you will need to enter this directory into Eclipse in a moment.

3. Fire up Eclipse. You will need to locate where you installed / extracted Eclipse and execute it to start the application. The first thing you will need to do is create a workspace. Just follow the on-screen instructions as it should prompt you to do this automatically.

4. Eclipse: Software Update List

   Add the Android Eclipse Add-on. Under the "Help" menu, click on "Software Updates...". Click the "Available Software" tab, then the "Add Site..." button. Enter the Google Android url (https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/ or http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/), then click "ok". Make sure that URL now shows up in the list. Check the box next to "Developer Tools" and click the "Install..." button at the top right.

5. Eclipse: Android SDK Location

   Set your Android SDK location. Alright, so in order for this to work, Eclipse needs to know where you placed the Google Android SDK. Under the "Window" menu, click on "Preferences", then select "Android" on the left. If you know the location, you can just type it in. Otherwise, click browse and find the directory. Once selected, click "Apply" then "Ok".

6. Eclipse: New Android Project

   Develop some applications. Now that your set up is complete. You should be able to create a new "Android Project".

Tips & Warnings

• Everything can be undone. Play around and have fun.

• Without prior programming knowledge, this may not be of help.

Resources

• Google Android
• Google Android SDK Download
• Eclipse
• Google Hosted Code Samples
• Sun's Java Reference Documentation