How to Set up an Android Development Environment

The Android is a tremendous mobile operating system humans have every created. As of today, Android is the world's most popular mobile platform. You can check more statistics on Android Dashboard.

This article shows how to set up the initial development environment for creating Android applications. I can grantee you can start making Android applications at the end of this article.

1. Download an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) 

There are many IDEs out there for Android development, but I urge you to use well established Eclipse IDE and I will be using Eclipse though out the entire article as my IDE.

You can download the latest version of the software here : Link http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/release/indigo/r

This is the link to a stackoverflow question "What is the best IDE to develop Android apps in?"

Complete guide for Android Studio

2. Install Eclipse 

Keep a note of the installation directory and workspace for later reference.

3. Download and install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

PS :- Ignore this step if you already have JRE installed on your computer

You can find the download file here : Link  http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jre-6u25-download-346243.html
It's must to download the compatible JRE version with the Ecipse
(ex :- It causes an error if you try to open 32-bit Ecipse on 64-bit JRE)

Make sure you set the correct PATH environment variable after the JRE installation.

4. Download and install the Java Development Kit (JDK)

You can find the download file from the same link : Link  http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jre-6u25-download-346243.html

5.