Setup Android Development Environment in Mac !!

Hi friends, when I did a quick search on above topic, I found answer on blogs, but they were not organized or were not easier to understand and start. So, here is a quick and short installation guide for setting up Android development environment using Eclipse. Eclipse is best IDE for Android development so, I suggest using eclipse and get started rather than wandering if there are other dev environments to choose.

Step 1: Android SDK setup

Android SDK is the package which contains all the libraries and API's needed for developing android applications.

1. In this step simply download the Android SDK from this site for Mac OS X.
2. After downloading SDK, unzip it. It is good to go through a Readme.txt file of that folder.
3. Open the terminal and execute the command "tools/android".
4. You will see an "Android SDK and AVD Manager".
5. Browse through Available Package, select only needed version of SDK such as 2.2 or above and some samples and documentation and then Click on Install selected Item. 
6. Accept and Click install. Then program will download selected item and install. 

NOTE: You don't need to install all packages to start android programming. Be selective, only install those which you might need. Later on you can download and install other packages too. 

Step 2: Installing Eclipse

In this step download Latest Eclipse from here for your Mac OS X. I have used the Eclipse - Indigo Version which also works great. I suggest eclipse version 3.6 or above.

Step 3: Install Android ADT Plugin in Eclipse.

Eclipse is based on a plug-in architecture that is used to extend its capabilities by third-party plug-ins. The ADT plug-in marries the tools found in the Android SDK with the powers of Eclipse. 

Installing plug-ins for Eclipse can be done either manually, by dropping the contents of a plug-in ZIP file into the plug-ins folder of Eclipse, or via the Eclipse plug-in manager integrated with Eclipse. Here we’ll choose the second route.

1. To install a new plug-in, go to Help > Install New Software..., which will open the installation dialog. In this dialog you can choose from which source to install what plug-in. First, you have to add the plug-in repository from which the ADT plug-in is fetched. 

2. In the first text field, you can enter the name of the repository something like “ADT repository” will do. The second text field specifies the URL of the repository. For the ADT plug-in, this field should be https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/. Note that this URL might be different for newer versions, so check the ADT plug-in site for an up-to-date link.

3. After you’ve confirmed the dialog, you’ll be brought back to the installation dialog, which should now be fetching the list of available plug-ins in the repository. Check the Developer Tools check box and click the Next button.

4. Eclipse will now calculate all the necessary dependencies, and then present you a new dialog that lists all the plug-ins and dependencies that are going to be installed. Confirm that dialog with a click on the Next button.

5. Yet another dialog will pop up, prompting you to accept the licenses of each plug-in to be installed. You should of course accept those licenses, and finally initiate the installation with a click on the Finish button.

6. Finally, Eclipse will ask you whether it should restart to apply the changes. You can opt for a full restart or for applying the changes without a restart. To play it safe, choose Restart Now, which will restart Eclipse as expected.

Step 4: Setting Android SDK Path to Eclipse

As one last step in finishing the installation of the ADT plug-in, you have to tell the plugin where the Android SDK is located.

1. Open Window > Preferences, and select Android in the tree view in the upcoming dialog.

2. On the right side, click the Browse button to chose the root directory of your Android SDK installation.

3. Click the OK button to close the dialog, and you’ll finally able to create your first Android application.

Now you can go to Eclipse and Use Android SDK and AVD Manager to add / remove SDK, create Virtual Emulators etc.

Conclusion:

I hope this quick and short steps will help you through installation of Android Development Environment in No Time. Thanks and Happy Sharing.