In our previous article we discussed what resources and documentations you can refer to before starting to develop an Android app. Today, we will discuss in detail about the software that are needed during the App development and how to install those software.

Android SDK

The first thing you will require for getting started is the Android SDK .zip file which can easily downloaded from the internet as it is a freeware. After that, extract the files in a folder.Now you have to add /tools as the root path that will enable the adb commands. In order to do that, you have to right click on My Computer and click on properties. After that, click on Advanced and then Environment Variables.

Now, you will see a tab saying Path, open it and add the location of the folder where you extracted the SDK files. That’s it!You have successfully installed Android SDK on your computer.

Installing Eclipse and ADT

Now you will need the Eclipse Software to proceed.You will be able to develop your app in this environment.It also comes with a plug in which is commonly referred to as ADT (Android Development Tools).

ADT has everything that you will require during the development of your app. You can download and install Eclipse from www.eclipse.org and then download ADT plug in from this link.

Getting Eclipse Ready for Android Development

After installing Eclipse, you need to download its remote update. Go to the update menu in Help bar and click ‘Find and Install’. Then select‘Add a new Remote site’ and paste this link; https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/ in the given field.

Now you will see Android Development tools in the search results.Install the update to make Eclipse fully equipped for android development. After the installation is complete, restart Eclipse and point it to the directory where you saved your SDK files in the ‘Preferences’ menu.

Now you can start developing your app with the help of SDK, Eclipse and ADT plug in.

Linking Eclipse to Android Emulator

Another tool that you will require while developing an app is Dalvik Debug Monitor Server (DDMS). It is used to forward the port between the Eclipse IDE and the emulator in which you are testing your apps.

It automatically gives a virtual port to your emulator which means that you don’t have to learn much about it.

Getting Logs from Emulator for Troubleshooting

We have also got another handy tool called the logcat which is used to dump the system messages which are thrown by your app emulator. All of these tools can be incorporated in the Eclipse IDE so you don’t have to worry about installing another tool.

There are many other tools available for the developers that perform different tasks and help a lot while developing an app. If you want to build an app that does a lot of things, you will need different tools and they should work at the same time too.

To find rest of the tools, you can just go the option saying ‘Dev Tools’ in the emulator and then select ‘Development Settings’ which will show you the complete list of tools available for the app development.