151 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
151 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
page.title=Introduction
|
|
@jd:body
|
|
|
|
<p>Developing applications for Android devices is facilitated by a group of tools that are
|
|
provided with the SDK. You can access these tools through an Eclipse plugin called ADT (Android
|
|
Development Tools) or from the command line. Developing with Eclipse is the preferred method because
|
|
it can directly invoke the tools that you need while developing applications.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>However, you may choose to develop with another IDE or a simple text editor and invoke the
|
|
tools on the command line or with scripts. This is a less streamlined way to develop because you
|
|
will sometimes have to call command line tools manually, but you will have access to the same
|
|
number of features that you would have in Eclipse.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="figure" style="width:461px">
|
|
<img src="{@docRoot}images/developing/developing_overview.png"
|
|
alt="Development process for Android applications"
|
|
height="738" />
|
|
<p class="img-caption">
|
|
<strong>Figure 1.</strong> The development process for Android applications.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<p>The basic steps for developing applications (with or without Eclipse) are shown in figure 1. The
|
|
development steps encompass four development phases, which include:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Setup</strong>
|
|
<p>During this phase you install and set up your development environment. You also create
|
|
Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) and connect hardware devices on which you can install your
|
|
applications.</p>
|
|
<p>See <a href="{@docRoot}tools/devices/index.html">Managing Virtual Devices</a>
|
|
and <a href="{@docRoot}tools/device.html">Using Hardware Devices</a> for more
|
|
information.
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Development</strong>
|
|
<p>During this phase you set up and develop your Android project, which contains all of the
|
|
source code and resource files for your application. For more informations, see
|
|
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/projects/index.html">Create an Android project</a>.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Debugging and Testing</strong>
|
|
<p>During this phase you build your project into a debuggable <code>.apk</code> package that you
|
|
can install and run on the emulator or an Android-powered device. If you are using Eclipse,
|
|
builds are generated each time you project is saved. If you're using another IDE,
|
|
you can build your project using Ant and install it on a device using
|
|
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/help/adb.html">adb</a>. For more information, see
|
|
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/building/index.html">Build and run your application</a>.</p>
|
|
<p>Next, you debug your application using a JDWP-compliant debugger along with the debugging
|
|
and logging tools that are provided with the Android SDK. Eclipse already comes packaged with
|
|
a compatible debugger. For more information see,
|
|
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/debugging/index.html">Debug your application with the
|
|
SDK debugging and logging tools</a>.</p>
|
|
<p>Last, you test your application using various Android SDK testing tools. For more
|
|
information, see <a href="{@docRoot}tools/testing/index.html">Test your application
|
|
with the Testing and Instrumentation framework</a>.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Publishing</strong>
|
|
<p>During this phase you configure and build your application for release and distribute your
|
|
application to users. For more information, see
|
|
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/publishing/publishing_overview.html">Publishing Overview</a>.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="EssentialTools">Essential command line tools</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>When developing in IDEs or editors other than Eclipse, be familiar with
|
|
all of the tools below, because you will have to run them from the command line.</p>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt><a href="{@docRoot}tools/help/android.html">android</a></dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>Create and update Android projects and create, move, and delete AVDs.</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href="{@docRoot}tools/devices/emulator.html">Android Emulator</a></dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>Run your Android applications on an emulated Android platform.</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href="{@docRoot}tools/help/adb.html">Android Debug Bridge</a></dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>Interface with your emulator or connected device (install apps, shell the device, issue
|
|
commands, etc.).</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
<p>In addition to the above tools that are included with the SDK, you need the following open
|
|
source and third-party tools:</p>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt>Ant</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>To compile and build your Android project into an installable .apk file.</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt>Keytool</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>To generate a keystore and private key, used to sign your .apk file. Keytool is part of the
|
|
JDK.</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt>Jarsigner (or similar signing tool)</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>To sign your .apk file with a private key generated by Keytool. Jarsigner is part of the
|
|
JDK.</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you are using Eclipse and ADT, tools such as <code>adb</code> and <code>android</code>
|
|
are automatically called by Eclipse and ADT so you don't have to manually invoke these tools.
|
|
You need to be familiar with <code>adb</code>, however, because certain functions are not
|
|
accessible from
|
|
Eclipse, such as the <code>adb</code> shell commands. You might also need to call Keytool and
|
|
Jarsigner to
|
|
sign your applications, but you can set up Eclipse to do this automatically as well.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>For more information on the tools provided with the Android SDK, see the
|
|
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/index.html">Tools</a> section of the documentation.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="ThirdParty">Other Third-Party Development Tools</h2>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The tools described in this section are not developed by the Android SDK team. The Android Dev Guide
|
|
does not provide documentation for these tools. Please refer to the linked documents in each
|
|
section for documentation.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<h3 id="IntelliJ">Developing in IntelliJ IDEA</h3>
|
|
<div style="float: right">
|
|
<img alt="The IntelliJ graphical user interface" height="500px"
|
|
src="{@docRoot}images/developing/intellijidea_android_ide.png"/>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<p>
|
|
IntelliJ IDEA is a powerful Java IDE from JetBrains that provides
|
|
full-cycle Android development support in both the free Community
|
|
Edition and the Ultimate edition.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The IDE ensures compatibility with the latest Android SDK and offers a
|
|
smart code editor with completion, quick navigation between code and
|
|
resources, a graphical debugger, unit testing support using Android
|
|
Testing Framework, and the ability to run applications in either the
|
|
emulator or a USB-connected device.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<strong>Links:</strong>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="http://www.jetbrains.com/idea">IntelliJ IDEA official website</a>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/features/google_android.html">Android support in IntelliJ IDEA</a>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="http://wiki.jetbrains.net/intellij/Android">IntelliJ IDEA Android Tutorials</a>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|