Setting up Android Development Environment for making roms and apps

Getting Started : Setting up Android Development Environment

Installing Android SDK

In order to start developing for Android you need the Software Development Kit. You can download it for Windows, Linux or for Mac OS X.

Once downloaded you have to install it, on Windows just start the executable file.

Installing Java JDK and Eclipse

The Java Development Kit is needed to develop Android applications since Android is based on Java and XML. Writing Android code is being done using an editor, the best supported ,and in my opinion, the best one around is Eclipse. Eclipse is an opensource freeware editor that is capable of supporting a wide range of programming languages.

Installing the ADT Plugin

Once Eclipse is installed we need to connect the Android SDK with Eclipse, this is being done by the ADT Plugin. Installing this plugin is easily done using eclipse.

1. Start Eclipse. Navigate in the menu to Help > Install new software..
2. Press ‘ Add..’,  in the new window that pops up you can fill in Name with an arbitrary name. A good suggestion could be “Android Plugin” and in the location you have to paste :
   

   1	https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

3. Click ‘Ok’. Make sure the checkbox for Developer Tools is selected and click “Next”.
4. Click ‘Next’. Accept al the license agreements, click ‘Finish’ and restart Eclipse.
5. To configure the plugin : choose Window > Preferences
6. Select ‘Android’ on the left panel and browse for the Android SDK you downloaded in the first step. (On windows : C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk)
7. Click apply and you’re ready and ok !

Adding platforms and components

On windows, start the SDKManager.exe . Located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk and install all platforms and components.

You’re ready to start coding now !

Happy coding,