Android Development and Configuration in Eclipse

Hey Guys,

Hope you are doing good!

In this Article I will be explaining about the Android Development and how to setup android application development on Eclipse IDE .

Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language. Android offers a custom plugin for the Eclipse IDE, called Android Development Tools (ADT), that is designed to give you a powerful, integrated environment to build Android applications. [ The hyperlinks are displayed to give you more details about the specified keywords mentioned in the paragraph ).

Android 2.2 on Emulator

To start with the Development Part, you have to install Java platform (JDK)  first on your system and then  install the Eclipse IDE ,  Android SDK and the  Android Development Tool (ADT) plugin for Eclipse.

Download and Install JDK

Download and install the latest JDK (JDK 6 Update 24) from JDK download page .

Download and Install Eclipse IDE

Download and install Eclipse Classic 3.6.2 from Eclipse download page.

Download and Install Android SDK Starter Package

The Android SDK starter package includes only a single component i.e the latest version of the SDK Tools. Android SDK and AVD Manager is included in the same component which is used to download other components from the SDK repository site.

• Download the latest Android SDK  starter package  from the SDK download page.
• Unpack the archive to a suitable location on your system. By default, the SDK files are unpacked into a directory named  android-sdk-windows, if you are using the Windows as a Platform.

Add Android Platforms to Your SDK

To add more than one Android platforms (for example, Android 2.1 or Android 2.2) to your SDK, use the Android SDK and AVD Manager, included in the SDK starter package. It is recommended  to download multiple platforms, so that you can build your application on the lowest version you want to support.

• Launch the Android SDK and AVD Manager on Windows by executing SDK Setup.exe at the root of the SDK directory.
• On Available Packages menu, select the platforms to download.
• Click on the Accept and Select all button and Install all the packages required.

Download and Install ADT Plugin

To install  the ADT ( Android Development Tool ) Plugin, you can take advantage of the Eclipse Software Updates Feature. By setting up a remote update site, you can easily download, install, and check for ADT updates.

• Firstly, Launch Eclipse, then Select Help –>Software Updates.



• In Available Software tab, click Add.
• Enter a name for the site in the Name field and in the Locationfield, Enter the Following URL:
  
  https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
  and then click OK. In the following snapshot I have already added the site so, I have selected the site from the list of available softwares.



• Then Restart Eclipse.
• To check whether the ADT has been installed correctly, Try to create a new project by selectFile > New > Project., you should find Android Project listed on project wizard.



• Click on the Next and Create a new Project.
• When you create the New Project in the Eclipse IDE, You can see the different types of files for the application development purpose having different meanings. They include:

• AndroidManifest.xml snippet — This file is the application deployment descriptor for Android applications.

• IntentReceiver – This demonstrates the implementation of an IntentReceiver, which is the class that processes intents as advertised by the IntentFilter tag in the AndroidManifest.xml file.  These Intents are basically used for the creation of the activity purpose. Activity Creation is basically a event generation to transfer the control of the program from one file to the another file with the useful parameters.

• Sample.java — This implements an Android activity, the primary entry point to the sample application of this tutorial.

• Main.xml — This contains the visual elements, or resources, for use by Android activities. This is the file where the GUI of the Android application get developed.

• R.java — This file is automatically generated by Android Developer Tools and “connects” the visual resources to the Java source code.

Enjoy

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