Android Development Tutorial

By: Shawn Landis

Break Studios Contributing Writer

When you want a Android development tutorial, it helps if you know how to program in Java before you begin. It also helps to have a good idea of the foundation for Android. The Linux kernel foundation of the Android operating system helps a programmer work with the operating system's framework. Fortunately, a few tools can help a person make apps without too much programming.

Things You Will Need to Develop Android Apps:

  • An Android Emulator
  • The Android Open Source Development Kit
  • A Java compiler for the cell phone and tablet platform
  • Knowledge of Java and XML.
  1. Get a copy of the Davlik Virtual Machine. Don't worry about the virtual machine taking up software. A virtual machine on a computer just lets a computer running a different operating system act as though it were operating another. Virtual machines are often used on networks where more than one operating system is in use.
  2. Make sure you have Android 2.3.3 and Eclipse. Earlier versions of the Android operating system can use the Eclipse versions, but the procedures vaguely outlined here will not work. If you love tinkering with your code, figuring out the backwards compatibility may not cause you too many problems.
  3. Learn to Write the XML Header required for Android appsAndroid needs to know what a program does, what resources it intends to use, and where the author's children are at ten o'clock every evening. The XML header is the only XML a person needs to use in an Android app.
  4. Write the Java code. Unfortunately, Java code is likely to put you to sleep. If you already know C and C++ you should be able to adapt to Java fairly well. You should do all the other things related to program including those dark and secret rituals you can only tell other programmers about. Odds are that your “World of Warcraft” guild knows about them.
  5. Compile the code using the DVM Java format. Run the program on the Android virtual machine. Debugging involves doing everything you can think of to break the program. You want to do as much as possible to identify problem spots before your users do. If you do not find obvious flaws, you may have to read a few death threats from the more irate users.
Posted on: May. 25, 2011