This page describes how to install the Android SDK and set up your development environment for the first time.

If you encounter any problems during installation, see the?Troubleshooting?section at the bottom of this page.

Updating?

If you already have an Android SDK, use the?Android SDK and AVD Manager?tool to install updated tools and new Android platforms into your existing environment. For information about how to do that, seeAdding SDK Components

Step 1. Preparing Your Development Computer

Before getting started with the Android SDK, take a moment to confirm that your development computer meets the?System Requirements. In particular, you might need to install the?JDK, if you don't have it already.

If you will be developing in Eclipse with the Android Development Tools (ADT) Plugin—the recommended path if you are new to Android—make sure that you have a suitable version of Eclipse installed on your computer (3.4 or newer is recommended). If you need to install Eclipse, you can download it from this location:

http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

For Eclipse 3.5 or newer, the "Eclipse Classic" version is recommended. Otherwise, a Java or RCP version of Eclipse is recommended.

Step 2. Downloading the SDK Starter Package

The SDK starter package is not a full development environment—it includes only the core SDK Tools, which you can use to download the rest of the SDK components (such as the latest Android platform).

If you haven't already, get the latest version of the SDK starter package from the?SDK download page.

If you downloaded a?.zip?or?.tgz?package (instead of the SDK installer), unpack it to a safe location on your machine. By default, the SDK files are unpacked into a directory named?android-sdk-<machine-platform>.

If you downloaded the Windows installer (.exe?file), run it now and it will check whether the proper Java SE Development Kit (JDK) is installed (installing it, if necessary), then install the SDK Tools into a default location (which you can modify).

Make a note of the name and location of the SDK directory on your system—you will need to refer to the SDK directory later, when setting up the ADT plugin and when using the SDK tools from command line.

Step 3. Installing the ADT Plugin for Eclipse

Android offers a custom plugin for the Eclipse IDE, called Android Development Tools (ADT), that is designed to give you a powerful, integrated environment in which to build Android applications. It extends the capabilites of Eclipse to let you quickly set up new Android projects, create an application UI, debug your applications using the Android SDK tools, and even export signed (or unsigned) APKs in order to distribute your application. In general, developing in Eclipse with ADT is a highly recommended approach and is the fastest way to get started with Android.

If you'd like to use ADT for developing Android applications, install it now. Read?Installing the ADT Plugin?for step-by-step installation instructions, then return here to continue the last step in setting up your Android SDK.

If you prefer to work in a different IDE, you do not need to install Eclipse or ADT, instead, you can directly use the SDK tools to build and debug your application. The developer guide has more information about?Developing in Other IDEs.

Step 4. Adding Platforms and Other Components

The last step in setting up your SDK is using the?Android SDK and AVD Manager?(a tool included in the SDK starter package) to download essential SDK components into your development environment.

The SDK uses a modular structure that separates the major parts of the SDK—Android platform versions, add-ons, tools, samples, and documentation—into a set of separately installable components. The SDK starter package, which you've already downloaded, includes only a single component: the latest version of the SDK Tools. To develop an Android application, you also need to download at least one Android platform and the SDK Platform-tools (tools that the latest platform depend upon). However, downloading additional components is highly recommended.

If you used the Windows installer, when you complete the installation wizard, it will launch the Android SDK and AVD Manager with a default set of platforms and other components selected for you to install. Simply click?Install?to accept the recommended set of components and install them. You can then skip to?Step 5, but we recommend you first read the section about the?Available Components?to better understand the components available from the Android SDK and AVD Manager.

You can launch the Android SDK and AVD Manager in one of the following ways:

• From within Eclipse, select?Window > Android SDK and AVD Manager.
• On Windows, double-click the?SDK Manager.ext?file at the root of the Android SDK directory.
• On Mac or Linux, open a terminal and navigate to the?tools/?directory in the Android SDK, then execute:

  android

To download components, use the graphical UI of the Android SDK and AVD Manager, shown in Figure 1, to browse the SDK repository and select new or updated components. The Android SDK and AVD Manager will install the selected components in your SDK environment. For information about which components you should download, see the following section about?Recommended Components.

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Figure 1.?The Android SDK and AVD Manager's?Available Packages?panel, which shows the SDK components that are available for you to download into your environment.

Available Components

By default, there are two repositories of components for your SDK:?Android Repository?and?Third party Add-ons.

The?Android Repository?offers these types of components:

• SDK Tools?(pre-installed in the Android SDK starter package) — Contains tools for debugging and testing your application and other utility tools. You can access these in the?<sdk>/tools/?directory of your SDK and read more about them in the?Tools?section of the developer guide.
• SDK Platform-tools?— Contains tools that are required to develop and debug your application, but which are developed alongside the Android platform in order to support the latest features. These tools are typically updated only when a new platform becomes available. You can access these in the?<sdk>/platform-tools/?directory. Read more about them in the?Tools?section of the developer guide.
• Android platforms?— An SDK platform is available for every production Android platform deployable to Android-powered devices. Each platform component includes a fully compliant Android library and system image, sample code, emulator skins, and any version specific tools. For detailed information about each platform, see the overview documents available under the section "Downloadable SDK Components," at left.
• USB Driver for Windows?(Windows only) — Contains driver files that you can install on your Windows computer, so that you can run and debug your applications on an actual device. You?do not?need the USB driver unless you plan to debug your application on an actual Android-powered device. If you develop on Mac OS X or Linux, you do not need a special driver to debug your application on an Android-powered device. (See?Developing on a Device?for more information about developing on a real device.)
• Samples?— Contains the sample code and apps available for each Android development platform. If you are just getting started with Android development, make sure to download the samples to your SDK.
• Documentation?— Contains a local copy of the latest multiversion documentation for the Android framework API.

The?Third party Add-ons?provide components that allow you to create a development environment using a specific Android external library (such as the Google Maps library) or a customized (but fully compliant) Android system image. You can add additional Add-on repositories, by clicking?Add Add-on Site.

Recommended Components

The SDK repository contains a range of components that you can download. Use the table below to determine which components you need, based on whether you want to set up a basic, recommended, or full development environment:

Once you've installed at least the basic configuration of SDK components, you're ready to start developing Android apps. The next section describes the contents of the Android SDK to familiarize you with the components you've just installed.

For more information about using the Android SDK and AVD Manager, see the?Adding SDK Components?document.

Step 5. Exploring the SDK (Optional)

Once you've installed the SDK and downloaded the platforms, documentation, and add-ons that you need, we suggest that you open the SDK directory and take a look at what's inside.

The table below describes the full SDK directory contents, with components installed.

Optionally, you might want to add the location of the SDK's?tools/?and?platform-tools?to your?PATH?environment variable, to provide easy access to the tools.

?How to update your PATH

Next Steps

Once you have completed installation, you are ready to begin developing applications. Here are a few ways you can get started:

Set up the Hello World application

• If you have just installed the SDK for the first time, go to the?Hello World tutorial. The tutorial takes you step-by-step through the process of setting up your first Android project, including setting up an Android Virtual Device (AVD) on which to run the application.

Following the Hello World tutorial is an essential first step in getting started with Android development.

Learn about Android

• Take a look at the?Dev Guide?and the types of information it provides
• Read an introduction to Android as a platform in?What is Android?
• Learn about the Android framework and how applications run on it in?Application Fundamentals
• Take a look at the Android framework API specification in the?Reference?tab

Explore the development tools

• Get an overview of the?development tools?that are available to you
• Read how to develop?in Eclipse/ADT?or?in other IDEs
• Read?Developing on a Device?to set up an Android-powered device to run and test your application.

Follow the Notepad tutorial

• The?Notepad Tutorial?shows you how to build a full Android application and provides helpful commentary on the Android system and API. The Notepad tutorial helps you bring together the important design and architectural concepts in a moderately complex application.

Following the Notepad tutorial is an excellent second step in getting started with Android development.

Explore some code

• The Android SDK includes sample code and applications for each platform version. You can browse the samples in the?Resources?tab or download them into your SDK using the Android SDK and AVD Manager. Once you've downloaded the samples, you'll find them in?<sdk>/samples/<platform>/.

Visit the Android developer groups

• Take a look at the?Community?pages to see a list of Android developers groups. In particular, you might want to look at the?Android Developers?group to get a sense for what the Android developer community is like.

Troubleshooting

Ubuntu Linux Notes

• If you need help installing and configuring Java on your development machine, you might find these resources helpful:
  • https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Java
  • https://help.ubuntu.com/community/JavaInstallation
• Here are the steps to install Java and Eclipse, prior to installing the Android SDK and ADT Plugin.
  1. If you are running a 64-bit distribution on your development machine, you need to install the?ia32-libs?package using?apt-get::

     apt-get install ia32-libs

  2. Next, install Java:

     apt-get install sun-java6-jdk

  3. The Ubuntu package manager does not currently offer an Eclipse 3.3 version for download, so we recommend that you download Eclipse from eclipse.org (http://www.eclipse.org/ downloads/). A Java or RCP version of Eclipse is recommended.
  4. Follow the steps given in previous sections to install the SDK and the ADT plugin.

Other Linux Notes

• If JDK is already installed on your development computer, please take a moment to make sure that it meets the version requirements listed in the?System Requirements. In particular, note that some Linux distributions may include JDK 1.4 or Gnu Compiler for Java, both of which are not supported for Android development.

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