Hey everyone,
I'm relatively new to participating in this forum. I've been lurking for some time playing around with my rooted G1, cliq, and now my Nexus one.
While it's been fun toying with other people's work, I'd like to get serious about development again so I have something to contribute. Android really interests me and I'd like to learn the ropes. I haven't done anything with software development in years. At one point in time I was relatively competent with *nix based operating systems, scripting, and coding in C (never liked C++ or OOP in general, so I stuck with straight C, but I guess I'll have to stop being stubborn and realize that OOP is here to stay). This, however, was years ago. At the time I was running FreeBSD 2.2.6 and occasionally Slackware (forget the version) to give you an idea of how much I have to catch up on
My questions:
1) Does anyone have a recommendation for a Linux distribution that's conducive to Android development? I'm sure you can develop software in any distribution and everyone has their own personal preference for a distribution. My question is are any superior specifically for the purpose of Android development? (note: I'm trying my best not to phrase this as an uninformed newb question, as I know the eternal distro debate is quite futile and annoying. I'm just looking for a bit of insight to get me started specifially with Android development).
2) Could anyone point me in the right direction for where I can begin to learn about Android development as a whole? I'd like to develop a solid foundation in whatever aspects are most crucial. I would assume this includes basic linux proficiency (which I'm sure will come back like muscle memory), knowledge of C/C++, and Java. But I'd like to hear any input from those with experience so I don't waste my time reading material that may not be helpful.
Ideally I'd like to have enough of a basic knowledge of Android so by the end of the week I can write a basic "Hello World" Android app and continue learning from there.
One last thing. Yes, I do plan on googling it. And then googling it again. And I absolutely love the search function. The point of this post is to get a bit more insight about what to Google and search for
I dont know if you want to develop apps or work on ROMs and such. Apps are written in Java, and Im fairly sure alot of the lower level stuff is written in C.
The AndroidSDK is out for windows so you dont really need to have linux.
As for a Hello World app, read this http://developer.android.com/guide/tutorials/hello-world.html
thats what I followed to learn the basics, granted so far I only know enough to make a simple WebViewing application
EDIT: just a tip, when constructing the UI, read the part about constructing using XML, this is the ideal way to go, and you should get used to this instead of the traditional Java way.
1. The most condusive environment will be Ubuntu 8.04 (which I believe is referenced a couple of times on the SDK pages). Glad to have you here with us. : )
2. Here is a pdf on beginning with android, this is mainly geared toward application development though.
Have fun! : )
wow this is just the kind of material ive been looking for! Thanks!
Also, I've put together 2 or 3 of my own applications on Windows 7 (32bit), with no issues at all.
Just saying, if you have a windeers machine, it aint bad for building apps.
Thanks for the positive response everyone. That gives me a lot of helpful info to get started. After I get my bearings I'll post a thread to help other developers get their start.
Here are a few other decent links I've found so far:
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-android-devel/
http://www.devx.com/wireless/Article/39101
No Turning Back
Well I just too the plunge I told my boss I want to go part time next summer so I get get back into software development. You have to follow your passion, and and I'm giving up a full time salaried management position with my company in order to do so.
I've gotten a good start. I bought a new laptop and gave it a nice fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate. Installed JDK, Android SDK, Eclipse, Eclipse ADT plugin, etc.
Then took my old laptop and I'm in the process of getting rid of Fedora and putting Ubuntu 8.04 desktop on it as I type this
So my development environment is almost in place. Now all I have to do is brush up on linux fundamentals, brush up my my c, and learn java from scratch.
This will be fun
Any suggestions on a good place to start learning java specifically for Android?
I don't have any specific links, but my suggestion is to benefit from and give back to open source projects. By downloading the sources for Android applications that are open and learning what needs to be done on that level to get the end product running on your phone, you can learn more than most any tutorial you will find. And while the next step of improving on those applications may not come for a while, eventually you will be in the position of extending that functionality you started with and making something new or just improving the existing application so it does it's job better. Pay attention to the licenses involved though, and make sure to not do anything that isn't permitted (which isn't hard to stick to honestly).
Check Amazon for Head First Java which is a great starter for Java and OOP, another book to check out is Professional Android Application Development, I got both on Amazon for like 40 bucks shipped. Although I know Head First Java is used at a lot of schools like UC Berkley and UC Irvine, so I don't know if prices go up around this time of year that school is starting back up. I use VMPlayer on my Windows 7 machine to run Ubuntu when I need it, works like a charm and it's free.
JoshHart said:
Check Amazon for Head First Java which is a great starter for Java and OOP, another book to check out is Professional Android Application Development, I got both on Amazon for like 40 bucks shipped. Although I know Head First Java is used at a lot of schools like UC Berkley and UC Irvine, so I don't know if prices go up around this time of year that school is starting back up. I use VMPlayer on my Windows 7 machine to run Ubuntu when I need it, works like a charm and it's free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just purchased both of them. Thanks for the tip.
Items not yet shipped:
Delivery estimate: January 14, 2010
1 of: Professional Android Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
1 of: Head First Java, 2nd Edition
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
[double post deleted]
mianosm said:
1. The most condusive environment will be Ubuntu 8.04 (which I believe is referenced a couple of times on the SDK pages). Glad to have you here with us. : )
2. Here is a pdf on beginning with android, this is mainly geared toward application development though.
Have fun! : )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop is quite impressive.
Fedora 10 was difficult to install and configure on my laptop. Neither the touchpad nor the wireless driver worked properly out of the box. It reminded me of similar install experiences years ago when I more actively used Linux. I do enjoy a challenge, and I was able to get them set up after hours of research.
In contrast, Ubuntu 8.04 is running flawlessly on the exact same machine immediately after the install. I actually prefer the UI, and the lack of useless bloated apps immediately cluttering my system is refreshing.
Thanks for the recommendation
About the Beginning Android book. I notice it deals with Android 1.1 with Android 1.5 only being mentioned in the appendix. Would it still be worth reading to develop a solid foundation, or are do you know of any more current information available?
I'm getting my start over at developer.android.com, but I'm not sure if that's the right place to learn java from scratch. I guess i'll find out soon.
i got news for you, 1 solid app that works well, does what it says and markets to a large group of people will make up for your salary loss lol
good luck though, this whole app thing and moving to android has intrigued me to possibly get into some development as well, or with friends or something... if there is a new market where money is to be made, this is it... but i was curious if google takes a cut from apps like apple does?
personally i say organize something together and sticky it to help future devs...
Well I finally have my development environment after days of indecisiveness.
I did a fresh install of Ubuntu 8.04 on one laptop and an fresh install of Windows 7 on the other laptop, then setup JDK/AndroidSDK/Eclipse, etc on both. Then realized that Ubuntu 8.04 was installed on my slower laptop, and developing for an open source platform in a closed source operating system is a travesty. So I reformatted my quicker laptop, and setup a dual boot with Ubuntu on the inside of the drive so it gets the quicker data transfer rates. Then I had the pleasure of downloading and setting up JDK/AndroidSDK/Eclipse all over again.
Of course this was followed by hours of screwing around with different window managers and customizing things (and ending up sticking with gnome anyway)....finnnallly, days later, I'm ready to start writing some code
Hi all.
Im a c# / windows developer by profession, but work have just donated an unused mac pro for me to try my hand at some android development.
It runs both os x and windows as it's intel based, so before I get started I was wondering if there was a preferred or easier platform to develop android apps on (i.e. is the IDE better on one or the other (eclipse on both I assume), faster compile times, better driver support etc etc) on or are they all much of the same?
Thanks.
I have zero programming experience, but I would say Windows, as it isn't as limited as OSX is. Also, you may want to boot up Ubuntu or another Linux distro on it if you are coding. Their pretty lightweight, and most programs use them.
Well, I have used PC's since DOS 2.1 and Windows 3.x
Finally got a Mac Book Pro about 6 months ago. I can barely stand going back to a Windows PC.
In my opinion, the user interface is more elegant, the OS is more stable and it's just plain fun to use.
You can always run a Windows VM on your Mac too.
I just don't know what your choices are on a Mac for an IDE to use with C#. I use Intellij Idea and Eclipse for my Android development with the edge going to Intellij since Eclipse starting being nasty with me! LOL
You also have Xcode on the Mac for Mac OS development (and you can code for iPhone, iPad, iTouch etc.).
I'm exclusively Mac now and for $350, I got an Asus Eee PC for any windows development I might need. Not the fastest, but cheap and portable. I also use Dropbox to sync my Mac Android programs so I can develop on the Asus too if I go mobile. Works great for me
I hate Xcode with a passion heh.
Anyways this is very coke vs pepsi.
Windows, Mac, or Linux are all fine for Android dev. Seeing as most Android dev work is done in Eclipse the choice you make for OS is a matter of preference.
They are pretty much the same for this case. Devices will connect without needing drivers in OS X.
Neither has a noticeable advantage re: Android dev(ancient office proverb: "Eclipse is equally broken everywhere"). Since you're already a Windows guy, best to stick with what you know. Our shop uses Macs, main reason being most of us are Unix geeks and don't want to spend an hour setting up Ubuntu every time we buy a new system (and we can yell at Apple if it breaks).
maxppp said:
Hi all.
Im a c# / windows developer by profession, but work have just donated an unused mac pro for me to try my hand at some android development.
It runs both os x and windows as it's intel based, so before I get started I was wondering if there was a preferred or easier platform to develop android apps on (i.e. is the IDE better on one or the other (eclipse on both I assume), faster compile times, better driver support etc etc) on or are they all much of the same?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about apps but mac is great for rom development.
Lakers16 said:
They are pretty much the same for this case. Devices will connect without needing drivers in OS X.
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Click to collapse
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- Yeah, I was a bit surprised at that, it was a nice touch, especially since I had to install the drivers in Windows like 4x in less than 3mo when it decided to stop recognizing my droid.
Rootstonian said:
Well, I have used PC's since DOS 2.1 and Windows 3.x
Finally got a Mac Book Pro about 6 months ago. I can barely stand going back to a Windows PC.
In my opinion, the user interface is more elegant, the OS is more stable and it's just plain fun to use.
You can always run a Windows VM on your Mac too.
I just don't know what your choices are on a Mac for an IDE to use with C#. I use Intellij Idea and Eclipse for my Android development with the edge going to Intellij since Eclipse starting being nasty with me! LOL
You also have Xcode on the Mac for Mac OS development (and you can code for iPhone, iPad, iTouch etc.).
I'm exclusively Mac now and for $350, I got an Asus Eee PC for any windows development I might need. Not the fastest, but cheap and portable. I also use Dropbox to sync my Mac Android programs so I can develop on the Asus too if I go mobile. Works great for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VM's can be iffy, especially when dealing with USB devices.
Xcode is very nice, one of the best C/C++ IDE's I've used.
You're not going to find that much stuff on C# dev for OS X, as C# is a Win only thing. Sure, the API has been duped and other implementations have been made, but it's a Windows thing. Just like you won't find much stuff on objective-C in Windows.
SwiftLegend said:
I have zero programming experience, but I would say Windows, as it isn't as limited as OSX is. Also, you may want to boot up Ubuntu or another Linux distro on it if you are coding. Their pretty lightweight, and most programs use them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your zero programming experience lends itself well to your opinion .
Windows is actually one of the worst environments to dev in, if you want C/C++ dev, visual studio is your only option (and it kinda blows), that or GCC via mingW or Cygwin, but both of those are UNIX-based layers.
For android it doesn't really matter because Eclipse will run the same in OS X, Windows, or Linux.
What makes OS X much better for general dev over Windows is that it's BSD based at the core. Any UNIX fork or derivative lends itself very well to development, development was based around UNIX, Windows is a rather new thing. Only reason people dev for it is because it's a monopoly and you basically have to for consumer software.
maxppp said:
Hi all.
Im a c# / windows developer by profession, but work have just donated an unused mac pro for me to try my hand at some android development.
It runs both os x and windows as it's intel based, so before I get started I was wondering if there was a preferred or easier platform to develop android apps on (i.e. is the IDE better on one or the other (eclipse on both I assume), faster compile times, better driver support etc etc) on or are they all much of the same?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eclipse is pretty much your best bet, it uses the native Java compiler, so you're not going to get any faster compile times. As for drivers, OS X won't need them, Windows will, but that's just a simple double click >> next kind of deal. So pick your poison, as Eclipse was written in Java it runs the same on any platform (in theory). The OS X version is slightly different since Apple doesn't use Sun/Oracle Java, but rather they rolled their own Java.
In the end, it's all Eclipse, I've dev'ed for android on both Win7 and OS X 10.6 (latest OS's for both), I see no issues with either.
alostpacket said:
I hate Xcode with a passion heh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XCode is an EXTREMELY powerful IDE with amazing integration capabilities...up until 4.0...In 4.0 they decided anybody that's using XCode OBVIOUSLY wants to only develop for their iPlatform (not like anybody develops for OS X, or GP programming, or anything). So save yourself the $5 on XCode 4.0 and get the free 3.X (think it's 3.6). It's much more user friendly. Once you get to know it and use it it becomes quite epic, I can promise you. I jump editors and IDE's like it's my job, so I'm very critical of them, and I've had lots of experience with very many.
alostpacket said:
Anyways this is very coke vs pepsi.
Windows, Mac, or Linux are all fine for Android dev. Seeing as most Android dev work is done in Eclipse the choice you make for OS is a matter of preference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, since android dev is pretty centric (even though they say it isn't) around eclipse, and eclipse is Java (ie. cross-platform), it's definitely a case of picking your poison, it's the same thing regardless of the direction you choose.
ConstantineXVI said:
Neither has a noticeable advantage re: Android dev(ancient office proverb: "Eclipse is equally broken everywhere"). Since you're already a Windows guy, best to stick with what you know. Our shop uses Macs, main reason being most of us are Unix geeks and don't want to spend an hour setting up Ubuntu every time we buy a new system (and we can yell at Apple if it breaks).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed 100%.
Syndacate said:
XCode is an EXTREMELY powerful IDE with amazing integration capabilities...up until 4.0...In 4.0 they decided anybody that's using XCode OBVIOUSLY wants to only develop for their iPlatform (not like anybody develops for OS X, or GP programming, or anything). So save yourself the $5 on XCode 4.0 and get the free 3.X (think it's 3.6). It's much more user friendly. Once you get to know it and use it it becomes quite epic, I can promise you. I jump editors and IDE's like it's my job, so I'm very critical of them, and I've had lots of experience with very many.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me Xcode 4 was a relief. I'm forced to use Xcode, because of iOS development and man... I really hate Xcode 3. For me Xcode 4 is still something like IDE from early years of this millennium, but it's much better than Xcode 3. It has tabs, better (but still poor) syntax completion, much cleaner templates and more. Developing in Xcode 4 is reasonably comfortable.
Brut.all said:
For me Xcode 4 was a relief. I'm forced to use Xcode, because of iOS development and man... I really hate Xcode 3. For me Xcode 4 is still something like IDE from early years of this millennium, but it's much better than Xcode 3. It has tabs, better (but still poor) syntax completion, much cleaner templates and more. Developing in Xcode 4 is reasonably comfortable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's the thing. XCode 4 seems very aimed at iOS dev, where 3.X supported iOS dev, amongst OS X dev, amongst just, generally algorithmic C/C++ programming dev. I haven't personally used XCode 4, so I can't determine how much better or worse they made it, but I've heard from multiple sources it blows.
I'm against their philosophy of making people pay $5 for this one, though, that's retarded, all the past ones have been free. There's still a OS X software development community...don't quite they think they recognize that..
EDIT:
I haven't used it in like 4 or 6 months (not often I'm dev'ing on my MBP), so I can't comment much about the suggestions/auto-complete, etc., though I'm sure it's tweakable.
Syndacate said:
I'm against their philosophy of making people pay $5 for this one, though, that's retarded, all the past ones have been free. There's still a OS X software development community...don't quite they think they recognize that..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think OS X and iOS developers don't have to pay for Xcode 4 - it's free for them.
Brut.all said:
I think OS X and iOS developers don't have to pay for Xcode 4 - it's free for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's only free if you're part of the iOS development program, for which you have to pay the $99 / yr. You can develop for free for OS X, and to get XCode in the past you need to at least be part of the OS X developer program, but membership is free.
They still have that membership, for people who want to develop for OS X, that's how you stay up to date with XCode and other OS X development tools. Though the free version isn't enough for XCode 4.0.
So basically what you have is:
- Free membership for OS X development (in the past gave access to XCode and other development tools)
- iOS membership to post apps to app store, $99/yr.
The former used to get every version of XCode for free, membership is free. They still offer XCode 3.X on the site for them. They (or anybody else) will have to pay $5 for XCode 4.0.
The latter gets XCode 4.0 for free - it's retarded.
-----
In short, they tailored XCode 4.0 to iOS devs, and basically said "we don't give a ****" about standard OS X devs. I doubt they're going to continue working on 3.X for regular OS X developers, they're probably only going to work on XCode 4.0+, therefore you must pay to stay up to date now. It's realistically complete bull****.
More related toward Unix/Linux, the better
I would seriously recommend OS X only because it is Unix based. When working, the environment will be very close to Linux as opposed to Windows which is not even close.
This would definitely help when making custom roms or kernels as the compilation processes, techniques, and scripts outlined on most xda forum posts are linux based.
Of course, if you are simply creating android apps, then it doesnt matter which one you pick.
For me, the more resemblance to Linux, the better
Yup, I love linux
"I have zero programming experience, but I would say Windows, as it isn't as limited as OSX is. Also, you may want to boot up Ubuntu or another Linux distro on it if you are coding. Their pretty lightweight, and most programs use them."
Where do I even start from that esoteric comment of yours
JQwerty91 said:
"I have zero programming experience, but I would say Windows, as it isn't as limited as OSX is. Also, you may want to boot up Ubuntu or another Linux distro on it if you are coding. Their pretty lightweight, and most programs use them."
Where do I even start from that esoteric comment of yours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Skip over it to avoid possibly flame war .
demoneyes905 said:
I would seriously recommend OS X only because it is Unix based. When working, the environment will be very close to Linux as opposed to Windows which is not even close.
This would definitely help when making custom roms or kernels as the compilation processes, techniques, and scripts outlined on most xda forum posts are linux based.
Of course, if you are simply creating android apps, then it doesnt matter which one you pick.
For me, the more resemblance to Linux, the better
Yup, I love linux
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not just run Linux then, why push OS X. The scripts outlined on most of XDA are BASH scripts. It just so happens that the BASH shell is default in both OS X and most flavors of Linux. That's as far as that goes, though.
OS X having a modified BSD core (Darwin) (which was an official Berkely fork) makes OS X closer to the original UNIX than Linux is.
If the compilations are done using C, then yeah, a *nix environment would probably be best, as scripts, makefiles, compilers, etc. lend themselves well to the BASH shell, which is the default terminal interface in both OS X and Linux. Though as you said, if it's just apps, it doesn't really make a difference. I can't quite comment on the ROMs and Kernels aspect of it for sure because I haven't dabbled around in there.
Assuming the guy doesn't have a Mac or a hackintosh, it'd probably be best to install an easy-to-use Linux distribution such as Ubuntu or Fedora (The former has more support for...everything).
When I had my old Macbook I tri-booted it. It ran OS X so I had a solid, BSD-based OS to do my daily work in, Windows for when I wanted to play a game or use some Windows only program, and Ubuntu, for when I wanted OSS power, easy access to the GTK, Linux only programs, dev'ing, etc.
Wish I could tri-boot my new Macbook, but something they changed in the EFI when they switched to the unibodies is making that not very possible for me . Guess I'll have to resort to Wubi then, lmao.
Been a coder for a long time, since Vax mainframe days using a 220 terminal. Any how although Visual Studio is the god of all IDEs for android I prefer Ubuntu 10.4. I have a 64 bit system and installation was as easy as falling of a log. With the work's 64 bit windows system had a few problems, have to use the 32bit java sdk. But once running they are just the same only that Linux has a better shell for an old school hacker like me.
So in short, as someone else said, as it's mainly using Eclipse it's the same feel what ever the client OS.
I'm a Linux fan but was once a Windows die hard, Ubuntu changed that.
RichardUK said:
Been a coder for a long time, since Vax mainframe days using a 220 terminal. Any how although Visual Studio is the god of all IDEs for android I prefer Ubuntu 10.4. I have a 64 bit system and installation was as easy as falling of a log. With the work's 64 bit windows system had a few problems, have to use the 32bit java sdk. But once running they are just the same only that Linux has a better shell for an old school hacker like me.
So in short, as someone else said, as it's mainly using Eclipse it's the same feel what ever the client OS.
I'm a Linux fan but was once a Windows die hard, Ubuntu changed that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree for the most part. Only reason I don't use Linux full time (I used to) is because I like some programs better on Windows (ie. Notepad++, WinSCP) in which there's just NO good alternatives in Linux for. I mean yeah, GEdit or Kate come decently close to NP++, but they're not as good, IMO. Also, I haven't found any program for Linux that can handle live save listening on opened files (ie. you save and it uploads)..not quite sure why.
What I would disagree with is that Visual Studio is the "god of all IDEs" - it's simply not. I'm pretty sure they completely yanked intellisense for anything but C#, the intellisense sucks to begin with (that of other IDEs such as Eclipse, XCode, or QTCreator I have found to be much better), and just about every feature fails in comparison to other alternatives.
For cross platform Java, both Eclipse and Netbeans trump pretty much all. Netbeans is another OSS Java IDE (written in Java) which is pretty epic. For C/C++ I typically use XCode (if I'm on OS X) or QTCreator.
I guess if XCode wasn't around and I had to write in C/C++, QTCreator would be my favorite. Symbol matching rocks, it scales well to large projects, code completion and that jazz is all pretty epic. In general it's cross platform, open source, fast as ****, and runs well - I love it.
Even though it's "tailored" to QT (just has all the headers and docs for QT built in), it works just fine as a general purpose IDE.
maxppp said:
Hi all.
Im a c# / windows developer by profession, but work have just donated an unused mac pro for me to try my hand at some android development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enjoy the Mac Pro, but I'd stick with Windows + Eclipse, based on that statement alone.
You'll find a lot of value in being able to leverage yoru C# skills as you try your hand at android. I write WCF Rest services & use fiddler, etc as I build android applications.
After you spend a few days with Eclipse, you'll never realized how spoiled .NET developers are. The tooling in Visual Studio is so good, it's tough to get back into Java land.
Hello,
i have recently decided getting into android application development and now the first big question arises.
Which IDE should i start on if i have no previous experience ?
I m guessing that all of them are pretty much equal to what they are capable on and it mostly goes down to developers preference so i assume i will not find a definate answer here but perhaps an upside/downside comparison for some of them.
As i have found out as of Google I/O 2013 the Android team has moved to IntelliJ Idea with the new Android Studio IDE.
Even if its not superior to the IDEs currently available it might be in the future so my choice is swinging towards Android Studio with no valid arguments why.
I would like to hear some opinion about Android Studio if there are any major downsides compared to other IDEs available and if its a good idea to give it a shot without previous experience.
Thanks in advance,
D
Hmm. Nobody use Android Studio?
druvisk, I think Android Studio is a good choice for you.
Android Studio should be okay for beginners I suppose.
I looked at it a while ago, and as far as I could tell, there was no support for native code/the NDK, and I need that for my apps, so I'm just sticking with Eclipse.
I'm using eclipse i think it's not that hard for beginners (i am a beginner too)
I think you should seriously consider using a multi-platform development environment, so that your final product can work on both Android and iOS, hopefully also on Windows Phone (or maybe even desktop PC). There are tons of those - affordable and high quality. Use google to find those. From the top of my head: Cocos2d/3d, Moai, Marmolade, Corona, Unity, Gideros, GameMaker, and many more....
Hi, I think that you have to go ahead with Eclipse.
You only need to download it in the android developers main web and you can already follow some official tutorials without searching the options on the Android Studio IDE. (That can be different)
After you get some experience you can go with Netbeans or the Android Studio itself.
Only TRUE cross development tool
druvisk said:
Hello,
i have recently decided getting into android application development and now the first big question arises.
Which IDE should i start on if i have no previous experience ?
I m guessing that all of them are pretty much equal to what they are capable on and it mostly goes down to developers preference so i assume i will not find a definate answer here but perhaps an upside/downside comparison for some of them.
As i have found out as of Google I/O 2013 the Android team has moved to IntelliJ Idea with the new Android Studio IDE.
Even if its not superior to the IDEs currently available it might be in the future so my choice is swinging towards Android Studio with no valid arguments why.
I would like to hear some opinion about Android Studio if there are any major downsides compared to other IDEs available and if its a good idea to give it a shot without previous experience.
Thanks in advance,
D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend Gingee IDE. Super easy to use, and most important - helps you to use one code to generate an app in any desired OS, with no extra optimization needed.
Let me know if you need to hear more details. Or just go to gingeegames dot com.
Android Studio is great for those who haven't really been into Android before
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I'm working with Eclipse since the beginning and I'm quite happy with it. You can install ADT plugin, control the SDK manager and even profile your app with DDMS view.
I'd vote for Eclipse ...best IDE for beginners..
Eclipse. Android Studio still needs improvements from what I hear. Stick with Eclipse and you'll have everything you need.
RED_ said:
Eclipse. Android Studio still needs improvements from what I hear. Stick with Eclipse and you'll have everything you need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is correct.
Eclipse is the best right now.
Android Studio may be the best but Google really isn't in a rush to help developers out.
adrian.adamiak said:
I think you should seriously consider using a multi-platform development environment, so that your final product can work on both Android and iOS, hopefully also on Windows Phone (or maybe even desktop PC). There are tons of those - affordable and high quality. Use google to find those. From the top of my head: Cocos2d/3d, Moai, Marmolade, Corona, Unity, Gideros, GameMaker, and many more....
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Like the original poster I'm also a newcomer with only basic knowledge of coding. I'm looking for a multi-platform dev environment thats more a GUI possibly with drag and drop features so I don't have to code. I see there are plenty of app making websites available but rather than cloud based I'm wanting a programme I can download.
Gingee looks good and one of it's features they're marketing is that you can "build your app/game without writing one line of code". Would the options mentioned above be similar to Gingee or do you have any other recommendations to meets my criteria?
I would go with Android Studio, since it's under heavy development, and Google is replacing Eclipse with AS, so you won't have to switch to an other IDE in the future.
I think IntelliJ Idea is the best IDE for Java developers. I tried Eclipse several times, but still can't understand, why would anyone switch from IntelliJ Idea to anything else.
andras_k said:
I would go with Android Studio, since it's under heavy development, and Google is replacing Eclipse with AS, so you won't have to switch to an other IDE in the future.
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AS replacing Eclipse, I dont see that happening ever. Google never dedicates time and effort into anything, and an IDE is a big project.
I use netbeans with ndk for android c++ development
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53586100&postcount=4
Stick with Eclipse
I would recommend sticking with Eclipse as there is not many examples on using Android Studio for the newbies ... Now this is if you are looking to build native android applications.
I would not recommend any IDE that states you can build a application without coding ... Learn to code would be my honest suggestion.
Livecode??
I am disappoint.
Not one mention of LiveCode!
For anyone who has EVER used HyperCard on an old school Mac, you'll know how to use LiveCode. And they have a community open source edition, and can deploy to pretty much any target, save for Windows Phone.
I've written all kinds of one off custom apps with it.
To code for Android I have only been using Eclipse until now, and it meets all my needs. I think it's a very good tool ... as long as it's working, and to be honest this is not always the case. There where some incompatibilities of the ADT some month ago with the current licensing library, so I downloaded the very new version of Eclipse and ADT this month. Eclipse found some weird errors in Google's very own appcompat library ... I guess this is not my fault at all. Frequently Eclipse simply gets stuck loading content, and the only way to get rid of this problem is rebooting Windows. I don't know if such weird stuff is also occurring on Android Studio.