Getting Started with Android Studio

With over 1 billion Android devices already activated, Android represents an incredible opportunity for developers.

The skills you learn in this course will help you build awesome apps for smartphones and tablets today, and propel you towards exciting opportunities in Android's future.

Before start exploring Android Studio, you'll first need to download and install it. Note that you need to have JDK 6 or higher installed and have the environment variables set as shown below.

Java Environment Set up

1)Go to My Computer properties

2)click on advanced tab

3)click on environment variables

4)click on new tab of user variables

5)write path in variable name

6)Copy the path of bin folder

7)paste path of bin folder in variable value

8)click on ok button

9)click on ok button

Now your java environment is set.You can now execute any program of java from any drive.

Android Studio Set up

If you're on Windows, launch the.exe file and follow the steps of the setup wizard. If you're running OS X, mount the disk image by double-clicking it and drag Android Studio to your Applications folder.

If you've successfully completed the above steps, then your development environment should be set up correctly. You're now ready to create your first Android application using Android Studio. When you launch Android Studio for the first time, you should be presented with a welcome screen, offering you a number of choices to get you started.

In this tutorial, we're going to choose the New Project option. However, you can choose Import Project if you'd like to import a project from, for example, Eclipse, into Android Studio. Android Studio will convert the Eclipse project to an Android Studio project, adding the necessary configuration files for you.

If you select Open Project from the list of options, you can open projects created with either Android Studio or IntelliJ IDEA. By choosing Check out from Version Control, you can check out a copy of a project that's under version control. This is a great way to quickly get up to speed with an existing project.

To get us started, choose New Project from the list of options. This will show you a list of options to configure your new project. In this tutorial, we're going to create a simple application to show you some of Android Studio's most important features. I'm sure you agree that there's no better name for our project than HelloWorld.

As you can see in the above screenshot, I've named my application HelloWorld and set the module name to HelloWorld. If you're unfamiliar with IntelliJ IDEA, you may be wondering what a module is. A module is a discrete unit of functionality that can be compiled, run, tested, and debugged independently. Modules contain source code, build scripts, and everything else required for their specific task.

When creating a new project, you can also set the package name of the project. By default, Android Studio sets the last element of the project's package name to the name of the module, but you can change it to whatever you want.

The other settings are the project's location on your machine, the minimum and target SDK, the SDK your project will be compiled with, and the project's theme. You can also tell Android Studio to create an Activity class and a custom launch icon for you, and whether the project supports GridLayout, Fragments, a Navigation Drawer, or an Action Bar.

We won't create a custom icon for this application so you can uncheck the checkbox labeled Create custom launch icon. Click Next to continue setting up your project.

Because we checked the checkbox Create activity in the previous step, you are asked to configure the Activity class Android Studio will create for you.

Since we'll be starting with a blank Activity class, you can click Next to proceed to the next step in the setup process in which you're asked to name the Activity class, the main layout, and the fragment layout. You can also set the navigation type, which we'll leave at None for this project. Take a look at the next screenshot to see what your settings should look like.

After clicking Finish, you'll be presented with Android Studio's user interface with the project explorer on the left and the workspace on the right. With your project set up in Android Studio, it's time to explore some of the key features of Android Studio.

2. Android Virtual Devices

An Android Virtual Device or AVD is an emulator configuration, allowing you to model an Android device. This makes running and testing applications on a wide range of devices much easier. With an Android Virtual Device, you can specify the hardware and software the Android Emulator needs to emulate.

The preferred way to create an Android Virtual Device is through the AVD Manager, which you can access in Android Studio by selecting Android > AVD Manager from the Tools menu.

If you're development environment is set up correctly, the Android Virtual Device Manager should look similar to the screenshot below.

To create a new AVD, click New... on the right, give the AVD a name, and configure the virtual device as shown below. Click OK to create your first AVD.

To use your newly created AVD, select it from the list in the AVD manager, and click Start... on the right. If your AVD is set up correctly, the Android Emulator should launch as shown in the screenshot below.

With the Android Emulator up and running, it's time to launch your application by selecting Run 'helloworld' from the Run menu. That's how easy it is to run an application in the Android Emulator.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we've taken a brief look at some of the key features of Android Studio. It is very similar to IntelliJ IDEA, but it contains a number of important enhancements that make Android development easier, faster, and more enjoyable.