Getting Started....

Getting started with the android platform is very straightforward and went without a hitch really.

I like the fact that the team at Google are working with the eclipse platform. The documentation for the project is OK - it could be better in my opinion and concepts could be clarified with more examples or links to tutorials that explain the concepts. If all uses of an API had an associated example or tutorial, learning the API would be just that little bit easier. There is nothing worse than having low level details buried behind an esoteric black box that only the core development team knows about. Microsoft are the mastesrs of this - I hope Google don't go down this path! The tutorials are a good introduction and the concepts are fairly clear. I have been happy so far, but there have been some issues that I feel the team at Google could address - more of those in future posts.

Below are the low level details for setting up the android platform:

• Download the Java SDK (Version 6 at time of writing)
• Install this onto your system
• Update your PATH variable to point to the bin directory:
  
  eg: PATH:=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_07\bin
  
  
• Unzip the android SDK to Program Files. Add the tools directory to your PATH (see above).
• Install eclipse and follow these instructions:
  
  
  1. Start Eclipse, then select Help > Software Updates...
  2. In the dialog that appears, click the Available Software tab.
  3. Click Add Site...
  4. Enter this as the Location:
     https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
     Click OK.
  5. Back in the Available Software view, you should see the plugin. Select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click Install...
  6. On the subsequent Install window, "Android Developer Tools", and "Android Editors" should both be checked. The Android Editors feature is optional, but recommended. If you choose to install it, you need the WST plugin mentioned earlier in this page.
  7. Click Finish.
  8. Restart Eclipse.

Follow this and you should be good to go.