Android Tutorial ~ Installing the Android SDK

With the release of Verizon & Motorola's "Droid" phone series, I decided to get ready to start developing on the Android SDK. So here is a tutorial to get you started on installing Eclipse (JAVA IDE) and the Android SDK on your Windows, Linux or Mac system. 

First, what is Android? Android is Google's Open-Source mobile phone operating system. Android is based off of the linux kernel and is made to be an alternative to the iPhone OS or Windows Mobile. Android applications are developed in the JAVA programming language, allowing programs to be used on multiple different hardware configurations. This was a smart move on Google's part as JAVA is the #1 most used programming language according to developer.com. Objective-C (used for iPhone development) is not even on the list. 

To install the Android SDK, you are first going to need Eclipse. Eclipse is a free and open-source IDE used for development in JAVA, C, C++, PHP, and other languages. You can install Eclipse from their website, http://www.eclipse.org/. Make sure to install the "Classic" version, which is at the bottom of their "Downloads" page. 

Next you need to download the Android SDK from here : http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html. Unzip it and put it somewhere you will remember it. I unzipped it to /Users/Collateral/Android SDK/. 

Now Open Eclipse and go to "Help" and then "Install new Software".

You will see a button titled "Add", click that. Under "Name", name it whatever you want, under "Location" add: " https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/  ". It will download some stuff. Once you are back on the "Install New Software" menu, click on the "Work With:" drop down and click on the location you just added. 

Check "Developer Tools" and Install them. Restart Eclipse. Go to "Preferences" and click "Android" on the right hand side. Where it says "SDK Location" browse to the location where you unzipped the SDK that we downloaded.

Once you have done that, click "Finish" and then click the button. 

Click "Available Packages" and then check the android one. Click "Install Selected". Agree to All and wait for all of it to download and install. Restart Eclipse.

Congratulations, you now have the Android SDK installed! But we still need to set up an emulation product.

So press the  button again, and then click on "Virtual Devices". Click "New" and add a new device with these settings :

Click "Create AVD". Then Select your new device and click "Start". You should see this:

Congrats! You now have the Android SDK and a working Android Emulator!

Go ahead and start developing! :)

~Collateral