How to install the Android SDK and set up your development environment

Source: http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html

This page describes how to install the Android SDK and set up your development environment for the first time. You can find all these steps on http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html but here were include some screens and more details explaining each step.

(This tutorial was prepared on a Mac OS X 10.6.x)

Step 1. Preparing Your Development Computer

1.1) Check system requirements http://developer.android.com/sdk/requirements.html

1.2) Eclipse IDE download (last version is recommended – while writing this article Eclipse 3.5 or greater was supported)

Several types of Eclipse packages are available for each platform. For developing Android applications, we recommend that you install one of these packages:
•   Eclipse IDE for Java Developers
•   Eclipse Classic (versions 3.5.1 and higher)
•   Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers

I use Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-ee-developers/heliossr2

In Mac OS after downloading Eclipse you just have to unarchive the file (usually double clicking it) and you will see all the folders.
I usually copy the eclipse folder to “Applications” and create an alias for /Applications/eclipse/Eclipse.app on my desktop
Double clicl Eclipse.app and you are ready to start.

For more information about eclipse go to http://www.eclipse.org/documentation/

1.3) Make sure you have JDk already installed in your computer. Mac OS X Leopard comes with J2SE 5.0 preinstalled.

To make sure open up a terminal and type : java -version

If you r using another OS and don’t have JDK installed go to http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html to download and install it. (Check out same page for more information)

Step 2. Downloading the SDK Starter Package

3) Download the Android SDK http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html, unpack it to a safe location on your machine (if using a MAC OS like me).

Step 3a. Installing the ADT Plugin for Eclipse

(Source: http://developer.android.com/sdk/eclipse-adt.html )

3.1) Start Eclipse, then select Help > Install New Software….

3.2) Click Add in the top-right corner
3.3) In the Add Repository dialog that appears, enter “ADT Plugin” for the Name and the following URL for the Location:https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

3.4) Click OK. Note: If you have trouble acquiring the plugin, try using “http” in the Location URL, instead of “https” (https is preferred for security reasons).
3.5) In the Available Software dialog, select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click Next.

3.6) In the next window, you’ll see a list of the tools to be downloaded. Click Next.

3.7) Read and accept the license agreements, then click Finish. Note: If you get a security warning saying that the authenticity or validity of the software can’t be established, click OK.

3.8) When the installation completes, restart Eclipse.

Step 3b. Configuring the ADT Plugin for Eclipse

After you’ve successfully downloaded the ADT as described above, the next step is to modify your ADT preferences in Eclipse to point to the Android SDK directory:
3b.1) Select Window > Preferences… to open the Preferences panel (Mac OS X: Eclipse > Preferences).

3b.2) Select Android from the left panel.

3b.3) You may see a dialog asking whether you want to send usage statistics to Google. If so, make your choice and click Proceed. You cannot continue with this procedure until you click Proceed.

3b.4) For the SDK Location in the main panel, click Browse… and locate your downloaded SDK directory.

3b.5) Click Apply, then OK.

Step 4. Adding Platforms and Other Components

4.1) From within Eclipse, select Window > Android SDK and AVD Manager.
(or open a terminal and navigate to the tools/ directory in the Android SDK, then execute: android)

4.2) Recommended Components are: SDK Tools, SDK Platform-tools, SDK platform, Documentation, Samples, USB Driver (check http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html#which). Click Install selected, then Install