Getting Started with Android Development
I'll be honest, like many I am primarily a .Net developer. My favorite languages are VB and C# and I breath CIL. The world of Android is a little foreign to me and getting started seems like a challenge, however the more Android develops, the more I start to see similarities with .Net. Both languages have an extensive library of predefined functions to speed up development, both are what I call OO 2.0 languages, embodying and fully embracing object-oriented programming, and, with Froyo, both use just-in-time compilers to run the code.
Fortunately, unlike .Net, one of the requirements to get up and running with a full Android IDE is not a pocket full of bills (or enrollment in a major university's CS program). Android is developed mainly in Eclipse, a development environment that you will form a strong love/hate bond with as your relationship with it grows.
Installing Eclipse
Android is a java-based language and uses Eclipse. To start out we must install Eclipse. So here are the steps required to install:
- Go to eclipse.org's downloads section.
- Download the Java EE Edition. It is a zip file and you will need to extract it to your disk. I chose to extract it to C:\android for convenience.
- Launch Eclipse, in this case from C:\android\eclipse\eclipse.exe (no install needed, +1), and set your default workspace.
Installing Android Development Kit
- Go to "http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html to find the latest version of the development kit.
- Download the windows zip file and extract to your C:\android directory.
- Add the newly extracted directory to your PATH
- Right click on My Computer and go to Properties
- Click on "Advanced System settings"
- Open the Environment Variables tab. Scroll down in the System variables group until you find a variable called PATH. Click Edit..
- In the Variable value text box append to the end ";C:\android\android-sdk-windows\tools" to add the Android tools directory to your PATH. This will make your life easier down the road when you just want to launch adb.exe without navigating to this directory.
- Right click on My Computer and go to Properties
Installing the Eclipse Android Plugin
- Launch Eclipse as before.
- Go to the Install New Software… menu
- Click Add… and type in Google's Android update location https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
- Grab the checkbox for Developer Tools". Click Next and Finish on the next screens until an install-like process begins.
- Once the install finishes Eclipse will ask you to restart. Allow this to happen. Restarting is good.
- When Eclipse restarted we must set the Android SDK location. To do this navigate to the preferences dialog.
- Select Android and choose Browse… select your extracted directory C:\android\android-sdk-windows.
- Choose your preferred development platform. Since I will be developing with the EVO I chose Android 2.1-update1.
- Click ok. You're done!
At this point you have a fully functional build environment. From here you still have to prepare your emulator, run a sample project, and get started in the Android marketplace. As I work with my Android phone.
