This tutorial describes how you can set up a development environment for building Android applications in Eclipse IDE. In my future articles, I will be writing about the various programming techniques and features available in the Android development. Android is the leading Operating System in the smartphone market. This makes android is the most popular among the mobile application developers. If you are a mobile application developer, knowing Android application development adds lot of values to your profile. You can find more details about the android at official website. The following section guides you through the step-by-step process to set up the android environment.
Prerequisites for android app development
You must have installed all the below tools and software.
- Java SDK 5 or newer
- Android SDK
- Eclipse IDE
- ADT Plugin for Eclipse
Setting up the development Environment:
Step1: Choose a workspace for Android projects
Step2: Choose the Android SDK location
Click on Window->Preferences->Android->Browse->Choose the SDK location and click on OK->Click on Apply.
Step3: Creating an Android Virtual Device(AVD)
Click on Window->Android SDK or AVD Manager
Or you can click on the below highlighted symbol to create an Android Virtual Device.
Click on the above highlighted symbol ->click on New which leads you to the below screen
Click on Create AVD shown in the above picture.
The Android Virtual Device “AVD1” is created and displayed in the AVD manager as below
Click on the newly created virtual device “AVD1” and click on the “Start” Button which leads you to the below screen.
Click on the highlighted Launch button as in the above screen which launches your Emulator.
Now the Android Development Environment is all set for you to create an Android App. Hope this article helps you to understand the basics of getting started with the android development environment. Note that this post would serve as the very basic level entry programmers, you may use some other tools also for developing the applications.
If you have any questions or facing issues while setting up the environment, please post it in the comments section.