| page.title=Introduction |
| @jd:body |
| |
| <p>Developing applications for Android devices is facilitated by a group of tools that are |
| provided with the SDK. You can access these tools through an Eclipse plugin called ADT (Android |
| Development Tools) or from the command line. Developing with Eclipse is the preferred method because |
| it can directly invoke the tools that you need while developing applications.</p> |
| |
| <p>However, you may choose to develop with another IDE or a simple text editor and invoke the |
| tools on the command line or with scripts. This is a less streamlined way to develop because you |
| will sometimes have to call command line tools manually, but you will have access to the same |
| amount of features that you would have in Eclipse.</p> |
| |
| <p>The basic steps for developing applications with or without Eclipse are the same:</p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li>Install Eclipse or your own IDE. |
| |
| <p>Install Eclipse along with <a href="{@docRoot}sdk/eclipse-adt.html#installing">the ADT |
| Plugin</a>, or install an editor of your choice if you want to use the command line SDK tools. |
| If you are already developing applications, be sure to <a href= |
| "{@docRoot}sdk/eclipse-adt.html#updating">update Your ADT Plugin</a> to the latest version |
| before continuing.</p> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li>Set up Android Virtual Devices or hardware devices</a>. |
| |
| <p>You need to create Android Virtual Devices (AVD) or connect hardware devices on which |
| you will install your applications.</p> |
| |
| <p>See <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/devices/index.html">Managing Virtual Devices</a> |
| and <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/device.html">Using Hardware Devices</a> for more |
| information. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/projects/index.html">Create an Android project</a>. |
| |
| <p>An Android project contains all source code and resource files for your application. It is |
| built into an <code>.apk</code> package that you can install on Android devices.</p> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/building/index.html">Build and run your |
| application</a>. |
| |
| <p>If you are using Eclipse, builds are generated each time you save changes and you can install |
| your application on a device by clicking <strong>Run</strong>. If you're using another IDE, you can build your |
| project using Ant and install it on a device using <code>adb</code>.</p> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/debugging/index.html">Debug your application with the |
| SDK debugging and logging tools</a>. |
| |
| <p>Debugging your application involves using a JDWP-compliant debugger along with the |
| debugging and logging tools that are provided with the Android SDK. Eclipse already |
| comes packaged with a compatible debugger.</p> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/testing/index.html">Test your application with the |
| Testing and Instrumentation framework</a>. |
| |
| <p>The Android SDK provides a testing and instrumnetation framework to help you set up and |
| run tests within an emulator or device.</p> |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <h2 id="EssentialTools">Essential command line tools</h2> |
| |
| <p>When developing in IDEs or editors other than Eclipse, be familiar with |
| all of the tools below, because you will have to run them from the command line.</p> |
| |
| <dl> |
| <dt><a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/android.html">android</a></dt> |
| |
| <dd>Create and update Android projects and create, move, and delete AVDs.</dd> |
| |
| <dt><a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/devices/emulator.html">Android Emulator</a></dt> |
| |
| <dd>Run your Android applications on an emulated Android platform.</dd> |
| |
| <dt><a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/adb.html">Android Debug Bridge</a></dt> |
| |
| <dd>Interface with your emulator or connected device (install apps, shell the device, issue |
| commands, etc.).</dd> |
| </dl> |
| |
| <p>In addition to the above tools that are included with the SDK, you need the following open |
| source and third-party tools:</p> |
| |
| <dl> |
| <dt>Ant</dt> |
| |
| <dd>To compile and build your Android project into an installable .apk file.</dd> |
| |
| <dt>Keytool</dt> |
| |
| <dd>To generate a keystore and private key, used to sign your .apk file. Keytool is part of the |
| JDK.</dd> |
| |
| <dt>Jarsigner (or similar signing tool)</dt> |
| |
| <dd>To sign your .apk file with a private key generated by keytool. Jarsigner is part of the |
| JDK.</dd> |
| </dl> |
| |
| <p>If you are using Eclipse and ADT, tools such as <code>adb</code> and the <code>android</code> |
| are called by Eclipse and ADT under the hood or similar functionality is provided within Eclipse. |
| You need to be familiar with <code>adb</code>, however, because certain functions are not accessible from |
| Eclipse, such as the <code>adb</code> shell commands. You might also need to call Keytool and Jarsigner to |
| sign your applications, but you can set up Eclipse to do this automatically as well.</p> |
| |
| <p>For more information on the tools provided with the Android SDK, see the |
| <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/index.html">Tools</a> section of the documentation.</p> |
| |