android development tools and installation

Android Development Tools and Installation

Prof. Erwin M. Globio, MSIT Managing Director of eglobiotraining.com

http://eglobiotraining.com/

Installation of the Android development tools Google provides tools to develop Android applications. You have to choice to use either Eclipse or IntelliJ based tools. This guide describes both approaches but the focus is on the Eclipse based tooling. Standalone Eclipse ADT installation Download Google provides a pre-packaged and configured Eclipse based Android development environment. Under the following URL you find an archive file which includes all required tools for Android development: Getting the Android SDK .


Pre-requisites for using a 64bit Linux The Android SDK is 32bit, therefore on a 64bit Linux system you need to have the package ia32-libs installed. For Ubuntu you can do this via the following command. apt-get install ia32-libs Please check your distribution documentation, if you are using a different flavor of Linux. Standalone ADT installation Extract the zip file and start Eclipse from the eclipse folder via the eclipse native launcher, e.g. eclipse.exe under Windows.


Install Android SDK version Using the Android SDK manager The Android SDK Manager allows you to install specific versions of the Android API. Select Window → Android SDK Manager from the Eclipse menu.


The dialog allows you to install and delete packages. Select Available packages and open the Third Party Add-ons. Select the latest Google API (highest number) of the SDK and press the Install button. The following screenshot shows the API 16 but if there is a never version available install this version.


Press the Install button and confirm the license for all packages. After the installation completes, restart Eclipse. Install support library In the Android SDK Manager select Extras and install the Android support library. Updating an existing Eclipse IDE installation Install ADT Plug-ins and Android SDK The following description assumes that you have already a flavor of the Eclipse IDE installed which you want to update to develop Android applications. Use the Eclipse update manager via Help → Install new software to install all available components for the Android Development Tools (ADT) from the following URL: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/


After the new Android development components are installed, you will be prompted to install the Android SDK. You can use the following wizard or go to the next section to learn how to do it manually.


Manual installation of the Android SDK After the installation of the ADT the Eclipse tooling allows to download the Android SDK automatically. Alternatively you can also manually download the Android SDK from the Android SDK download page. http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html The download contains a zip file, which you can extract to any place in your file system, e.g. on my Linux system I placed it into the /home/vogella/android-sdks folder. Avoid using spaces in the path name, otherwise you may experience problems with the usage of the Android SDK.


You also have to define the location of the Android SDK in the Eclipse Preferences. In Eclipse open the Preferences dialog via the menu Window → Preferences. Select Android and enter the installation path of the Android SDK.


Android installation verification The best way to verify that your installation did work correctly is to create an Android Virtual device. Please follow the instructions below and make sure that the device actually can start otherwise you will face issues during the training.


Exercise: Create and run Android Virtual Device Create AVD Define a new Android Virtual Device (ADV) with open the AVD Manager via Window → Android Virtual Device Manager and press the New button.


Enter values similar to the following screenshot.


Tip Ensure that the Use Host GPU option is selected. This makes the AVD use the graphical processing unit of your computer and this makes rendering much faster.

Afterwards press the OK button. This will create the AVD configuration and display it under the list of available virtual devices.


Start your AVD To test if your setup is correct, select your new AVD entry and press the Start button


Warning Do not interrupt this startup process, as this might corrupt the AVD. The first startup may take on an older machine up to 10 minutes. On a modern machine is typically takes 1-3 minutes for a new AVD to finish its starting process.

After the AVD started, you can use the AVD via the mouse. If you selected the option and via the virtual keyboard of the emulator.

Warning The initial startup of the emulator is relatively long, starting the emulator is similar to starting an Android device. During development you don't stop the AVD, you just re-deploy your application.


android development tools and installation

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