Initiation to Programming with Android

This article is an introduction to Android.  

We will carry out the first steps for writing applications: installation environment, and creating the first simple applications.

Introduction :

Android is an open-source operating system for smartphones, PDA and mobile devices, and based on Linux. It was designed by the Android start up, which was acquired by Google in 2005.

This is the first mobile open source and fully customizable platform., and fully customizable. 

It allows the developer to make the most of everything that can provide a mobile device, allowing an application to initiate a call, email or SMS, use the phone's camera ...

Android is constantly evolving thanks to innovative applications developers realize. In eight months,

more than 6,000 applications and games have been developed and published in the market. You can get the source Android from the site: http://source.android.com
For developers, consult the http://developer.android.com site. You will find downloads required, documentation, how to publish your application ...  

Installations and tools :

To create applications for Android, it is necessary to install the following:

1. JDK :  Java Development Kit: Java Development Environment, which allows you to compile   and run applications written in Java.                                                                                                                                                    
2. Eclipse IDE Integrated Developement Environment : for simplified writing code. Is used with Eclipse the ADT plugin (Android Developement Tools) suitable for Android.                                                                                         
3. Android SDK Android Software Development Kit: The SDK provides an API and a set of tools for application development on Android. It mainly contains an emulator (AVD for Android Virtua Device) to model a real mobile device by defining hardware and software options desired. The SDK is available for download for Linux, Mac and Windows platforms at the following address  :  http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

 Installing Eclipse and the ADT plugin :

Before installing Eclipse, you must first install the JDK, which will allow us to compile Java programs. 

The JDK also includes a JRE (Java Runtime Environment) runtime environment for running Programs written in Java. As Eclipse is written in Java, it will not start without JRE.You can download the JDK from the following site:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

To install Eclipse, just go to : www.eclipse.org and download the appropriate version for your platform. The version we use is the basic version of Eclipse: Eclipse IDE for Java Developers.

Once Eclipse is installed, you must install the ADT plugin. for this :

• --- Go to Help ------> Install new software ... 
  
  

 In the window that appears, click Add ... and enter the link  : 

https://dl---ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/ 

 in the rental portion as shown in the following figure:

•  Click OK, and follow the installation procedure of the ADT plugin for Eclipse.
• Once the plugin is installed, restart Eclipse is required.
• To verify that the installation was successful,

          go to File ---> New ---> Other ... and verify that new part called Android has 
          been added. 

                                                                                                                                     

Installing the SDK :

The SDK comes as a compressed file. Once unzipped the file, go to the directory
tools and run the android file. The Android Manager application is launched:

The next step is to install the necessary Android platforms. Simply select platforms
you want to install, and click Install Packages ...

Configuring the SDK on Eclipse:

To configure the SDK:

• Click Window---> Preferences and select Android
• Specify the path to your SDK directory.

• By clicking Apply, the list of installed platforms will be displayed.
• Once the SDK configured, it is possible to start the emulator. To do this, 

           click directly on : 

                         
     congratulations !!! , you are ready to develop your first application ^_^