Installation of Android SDK for Windows

Enough of talking...lets get started with the installation of Android SDK for Windows:

Here’s a quick start installation guide to get you up and running with the Google Android Software Development Kit (SDK):

STEP 1:

Download the Android SDK source files from

ANDROID SDK

Download suitable development environment ...i prefer eclipse

ECLIPSE

Other development environments or IDEs: jdk 5 or jdk6

JDK 5 OR JDK 6

Step 2:Installing The Android SDK

First you will need to download the Android SDK pack .zip archive, once downloaded find a suitable installation location on your machine and extract the zipped files.

Alternatively you can add /tools to your root path which will prevent the need to specify the full path to the tools directory along with enabling you to run Android Debug Bridge (adb) along withother command line tools.

To add /tools:

1. Right click on the My Computer icon and select the properties tab.
2. Select the Advanced tab and click the Environment Variables button.
3. In the new dialog box double-click on Path (located under System Variables) and type in the full path location to the tools directory(in the android sdk folder).

STEP 3: Android Eclipse Plugin (ADT)

If you choose to use the Eclipse IDE as your Android development environment you will have the opportunity to install and run a plug-in called Android Development Tools.

Follow these steps to download the ADT plugin and install it in your Eclipse environment.

1. Start Eclipse, then select Help > Install New Software....
2. Click Add, in the top-right corner.
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/

   Note: If you have trouble acquiring the plugin, try using "http" in the Location URL, instead of "https" (https is preferred for security reasons).

   Click OK.

4. In the Available Software dialog, select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click Next.
5. In the next window, you'll see a list of the tools to be downloaded. Click Next.
6. Read and accept the license agreements, then click Finish.
7. When the installation completes, restart Eclipse.

Configuring the ADT Plugin

Once you've successfully downloaded ADT as described above, the next step is to modify your ADT preferences in Eclipse to point to the Android SDK directory:

1. Select Window > Preferences... to open the Preferences panel (Mac OS X: Eclipse > Preferences).
2. Select Android from the left panel.
3. For the SDK Location in the main panel, click Browse... and locate your downloaded SDK directory.
4. Click Apply, then OK.

Step 4. Adding Platforms and Other Components

The last step in setting up your SDK is using the Android SDK and AVD Manager (a tool included in the SDK starter package) to download essential SDK components into your development environment.

You can launch the Android SDK and AVD Manager in one of the following ways:

• From within Eclipse, select Window > Android SDK and AVD Manager.
• On Windows, double-click the SDK Manager.exe file at the root of the Android SDK directory.
• Or go to Start.Type android.

To download components, use the graphical UI of the Android SDK and AVD Manager, shown in Figure , to browse the SDK repository and select new or updated components. The Android SDK and AVD Manager will install the selected components in your SDK environment.

for installing recommended products refer this link : http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html#which

CREATING AVD's:

After installing the products you need to create Android Virtual Device(AVD).Follow the steps below to create your own avd:

1) In Eclipse, click the Window menu, then click Android SDK and AVD Manager.

2) On the Android SDK and AVD Manager dialog that pops up, you'll see a list of any Android AVDs you have already created:

Just click the "New..." button here to start creating a new AVD.

3) On the "Create new Android Virtual Device" dialog, just choose the options you want for your Android virtual device emulator, as shown here:

After filling out all the parameters, just click the "Create AVD" button, and your new AVD will be created, and it will appear in the list of Android Virtual Devices in the previous dialog, like this:

You can now use this AVD in your Eclipse/Android development projects.

thats it you are done with installation of android...phew!! quite a lengthy process..

if u still have issues regarding installation of android please refer these sites:

http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html#InstallingADT

http://www.talkandroid.com/android-sdk-install-guide/

http://www.devdaily.com/android/android-eclipse-create-android-virtual-device-avd