<p>The Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin adds powerful extensions to the Eclipse integrated development environment. It allows you to create and debug your Android applications easier and faster. If you use Eclipse, the ADT plugin gives you an incredible boost in developing Android applications:</p>
<ul>
<li>It gives you access to other Android development tools from inside the Eclipse IDE. For example, ADT lets you access the many capabilities of the DDMS tool: take screenshots, manage port-forwarding, set breakpoints, and view thread and process informationd irectly from Eclipse.</li>
<li>It provides a New Project Wizard, which helps you quickly create and set up all of the basic files you'll need for a new Android application.</li>
<li>It automates and simplifies the process of building your Android application.</li>
<li>It provides an Android code editor that helps you write valid XML for your Android manifest and resource files.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="installingplugin">Installing the Eclipse Plugin (ADT)</h2>
<p>If you <em>will not</em> be using the Eclipse IDE, you do not need to download or install the ADT plugin.</p>
<p>To download and install the ADT plugin, follow the steps below for your respective Eclipse version. </p>
If you are having trouble downloading the ADT plugin after following the steps above, here are some suggestions: </p>
<ul>
<li>In Step 4, try changing the remote update site URL to use <code>http</code>, rather than <code>https</code>. </li>
<li>If you are behind a firewall (such as a corporate firewall), make
sure that you have properly configured your proxy settings in Eclipse.
In Eclipse 3.3/3.4, you can configure proxy information from the main
Eclipse menu in <strong>Window</strong> (on Mac, <strong>Eclipse</strong>) > <strong>Preferences</strong> > <strong>General</strong> > <strong>Network Connections</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p>
If you are still unable to use Eclipse to download the ADT plugin, follow these steps to download and install the plugin from your computer:
</p>
<ol>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}sdk/adt_download.html">Download the ADT zip file</a> (do not unpack it).
<li>Follow steps 1 and 2 in the default install instructions (above).