Installing Android Development Tools in Windows

To start a series of tutorial on Android development tools, I will write about installing Android development tools in a windows computer.

Download and Install Android SDK
First Download the Android SDK for Windows from the Android developer website. There are two files for windows, a zip files and exe. Download the exe version shown below, as it is easier to setup.

Run the downloaded exe and install the SDK to your computer. It will take 45.1MB of your space.

At the end of the installation, by default the installer ask you to run the SDK manager to download system images of different android versions. Check that checkbox and start the SDK manager. (You can skip this step now and later run the SDK manager by clicking the "SDK Manager.exe" in the installed folder.)

Setup SDK Versions
SDK Manager shows a list of Android versions of system images to be installed. I prefer to select the latest Android version (by this time it is Android 4.0.3) and an older Android version that actually my phone runs (Android 2.2). You have the freedom to download versions you prefer. But I recommend you to download an older version, because there are lot of phones that run old versions of Android; If you test your android app in those versions, you can get a wider user base for you app. And remember to get the latest version as well, because you can test the newest cool features of Android from that. After selecting the necessary packages, click 'Install X packages' and 'Accept all' for terms of use. Then it will continue to download the packages.

Now if you goto the folder you just installed the SDK (by default "C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk") from windows explorer, you will see list of executable files that help you do different tasks.

android-sdk directory

• AVD Manager.exe: Allow to create/edit/delete Android Virtual Devices that help you to simulate your program.
• SDK Manager.exe: Installing/Uninstalling Android versions.

android-sdk/platform-tools directory

• adb.exe: Android Debug Bridge (ADB), Allow you to communicate with the android devices that have connected to your computer. You can install programs, issue shell command, view logs through ADB.
• aapt.exe: Android Assert Packaging Tool (AAPT), Compiles the resource files in your project.
• aidl.exe: Compiler for Android Interface Definition Language (AIDL).
• dexdump.exe: Disassembles dex files (Android bytecodes)

Download and Install Eclipse
You will be using Eclipse as the IDE to develop Android Apps. Download eclipse form http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/. You can use either "Eclipse IDE for Java Developer" or "Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developer" to develop android apps.

When you run eclipse, you will be asked to provide the workspace folder. Select a folder that you expect to keep the project files.

Installing ADT (Android Development Toolkit) Plugin for Eclipse

In Eclipse menu select Help -> Install New Software..

From the 'Install' form, click 'Add' to add a new repository that host Android related packages from Google.

From the "Add Repository" dialog box, fill the following details.

Name: ADT Plugin
Location: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

When you click 'OK', it will download the list of packages in the repository. Check 'Developer Tools' and click 'Next' to continue.

Then it will allow you to review the packages to be installed. Click 'Next' to continue.

After you agree to the license agreement and a warning to install unsigned content, eclipse will start to download and install the ADT packages.

After the packages are installed, you will be prompted to choose either restart or apply changes without restarting. It is recommended that you restart the system to make sure the packages are installed correctly.

Configure the SDK in your Eclipse
Once you restart the eclipse, it will ask you to configure the Android SDK.

You have two options. 1. Install New SDK, 2. Use Existing SDKs. Since you have already downloaded the  SDKs, just point to the directory you have installed in the first step in this tutorial. (In my case, it is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk").

And click 'Next' to complete the Installation.

That's it. You just setup your environment to develop Android apps. Well now you have to learn how to write a simple app. I will cover it in the next blog post.