Android is a very popular operation system for smart phones. That reflects in the rich variety of applications that are made especially for it. The use of the Android operation system and applications is on the rises. We can explain that with the fact that the programming for Android is very simple and is doesn’t require any complex knowledge of programming.

The basis of all good applications is a simple graphical interface. Apple is a great example of the success based on the graphical interface. iPhone has shown that users are not only interested in hardware but also like the interface itself. This shows how important appearance is.

To find out how to set up your computer for developing applications, follow this link: http://www.androideclipse.org/development-introduction/.

If you want to run your first application in the Android Emulator, you must create an Android Virtual Device (AVD). AVD defines the device settings used by the emulator.

To create an AVD you need to follow these steps:
- Go to Eclipse and select Window -> Android SDK and AVD Manager.
- Select virtual devices in the panel on the left.
- Click New.
- The Create New AVD dialog should appear.
- Type the name of the new AVD. Like “my AVD”.
- Choose a target. (The target is the version of the Android SDK which you want to run on the emulator. We recommend you choose the latest platform that you have installed and ignore the rest.)
- Then you just click on Create AVD.

After you create an AVD you need to go to Eclipse and start your first project. Go to File -> New -> Project. Then you select Android project and click Next. You need to give your project and application a name. Also you will need to choose the platform version that you choose for your AVD. Click Finish and start developing.

If you want to Run and test your application you need to select Run -> Run. Then select Android application.

Android is an open-source mobile operating system developed by Google for smart phones and mobile devices. The initial version of operation system was released on 21 October in 2008.

Android application development requires Eclipse, which is a an environment for Java application development. Android is based on Java programming language, which was developed by company Sun. Java is an interpretive objective programming language. Eclipse IDE is the most popular choice of Android developers. Its available for all platforms: Windows, Mac and Unix.

Android Application Development

So how to set up development environment? Setting up Android development environment is fairly simple. You need the following software:

• Eclipse
• Android SDK
• Android Eclipse Plugin

Eclipse

First, you have to download the Eclipse from the official page. It can be found here. If you don’t know which version to choose, Eclipse Classic is probably the one you need.

Android SDK

Next, you should download Android SDK from the official Android development page. You can get it here.

ADT plugin for Eclipse

To be able to develop Android mobile application with Eclipse you also need ADT plugin for Eclipse, which adds Android development functions into Eclipse. The plugin is available on official Android developer site on this link.

After you download all of the required packages, install Eclipse, Android SDK and ADT plugin. Eclipse and Android SDK are just installation programs, so you really cannot do anything wrong during the installation process. The installation of ADT plugin requires a little bit difference procedure. The easiest way to install it is to run Eclipse, go to Help > Install New Software and then add the following repository:

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

After you add the repository, just make sure that “Developer Tools” option is checked and click next until the agreement shows up on the screen. When you finish, you should just restart Eclipse and everything should be ready for your first Android application.