CHAPTER 1 - Installing the Android Development environment in Windows

     There are a few programs that you will need need in order to install the Android Development Environment.  This tutorial would be useful to you if you are familiar with the Windows Operating System and know how to install programs as well as unzipping files.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED

1. Eclipse
2. Java SDK 
3. Android SDK
4. Eclipse Plugin

SDK - Software Development Kit

INSTALLING ECLIPSE

     Eclipse is the standard development tool for the Android SDK.   It is a free and incredibly powerful tool but a little bit difficult and intimidating.  All you need is to follow this easy to follow guide in order to have one of the most powerful android editors ever

1. Go to the official eclipse website >>> http://www.eclipse.org
2. Click on downloads.
3. Find the Eclipse IDE for Java Developers and download it
• Download either the 64 or 32 bit depending on your machine's operating system
• I recommend the 32 bit one since it runs on both 32 and 64 bit windows operating systems
• File should be named something like   "eclipse-java-juno-win32.zip" As long as it has eclipse-java you are downloading the right file.   
4. Unzip the file into a directory in your drive
• Download and install either the free versions of Winzip or Winrar if you haven't done so already.
• Unzip it into a folder
5. Eclipse unzips the whole program and can be run directly from the folder in which it was installed

After following this guide you will need to move on to installing the Java Development environment, Android SDK and the Eclipse Plugin.

INSTALLING THE JAVA DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT (SDK)

    Even though Java is not as popular as C++ or C#, it still enjoys a great deal of support and it has the advantage of being able to run in almost any operating system such as Linux, Windows and Mac.  Java SDK is free and owned by Oracle.  

1. Go to the official Java site >>>  http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

2. Download the JAVA SE SDK for either 32 or 64 bit.
3. Install it. 

INSTALLING THE ANDROID DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT (SDK)

1. Go to the official Android developer site >>>  http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html 
2. Download the Android SDK.
3. Install it
• It is a self installing .exe file

SETTING UP THE ANDROID SDK

1. GO TO START  >>> PROGRAMS  >>> ANDROID SDK TOOLS >>> SDK MANAGER
2. Download all the updates

• You will need the most common APIS which are android 2.3.3 for phones and 3.2 and 4.1 for tablets.  Technically 4.1 is for most dual core processor phones.
• Also download the "Google USB Driver"

1. START  >>> PROGRAMS  >>> ANDROID SDK TOOLS >>> AVD MANAGER 
•   Create a new emulator image
• The emulator will run a virtual copy of the android version installed on your phone.

More later 

INSTALLING THE ECLIPSE PLUGIN

1. Open up Eclipse
2. Go to Help on the top of the page and then on to INSTALL NEW SOFTWARE.
3. Click on ADD...
4. Type any name on the name field
5. Type  https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/ on the LOCATION FIELD
6. Click OK
7. Install the Android SDK toolkit
8. Restart Eclipse

CONCLUSION

By now you should have a fully working Eclipse environment that will be able to run most applications.  You can also access the Android SDK manager directly from Eclipse and create your emulators.  This is my first tutorial so please feel free to leave any comments or things I may have missed.  

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

1. Eclipse won't download any updates or the plugin download just freezes


• Search for the plugin, Android updates zip and SDK.  Simply do a quick google search  for the latest android update packages.
• You can then manually install your updates by going to Help >>> Install Programs . You can then use the Browse options to install the components needed in Eclipse from the downloaded computer files.


2. My configuration
• Windows Vista 64 bit, Eclipse IDE for Java Developers 32 bit Juno,  Android SDK r20.3.3, Eclipse Plugin r20.3.3,  Java SDK 1.7.07
• Someone recommended me to run edit the Environment settings (Windows Vista)
• START >>> CONTROL PANEL >>> SYSTEM >>> (Under Tasks) ADVANCED SYSTEM SETTINGS 
•  Click on Environment Variables
• Under System Variables 
• Click New 
• Variable Name Type JAVA_HOME
• Path should go to your Java SDK development bin which should look something like C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_07\
• Also Look for Path under System Variables and add the line %JAVA_HOME%\bin at the end of what is already there.
3. Also it may help to update or install new software if you right click on any of the installation files and then click on Run As An Admistrator.