Setting Up the SDK and Eclipse ADT for Android

In a recent class I conducted, a new installer for the Windows version of the SDK caused me to spend too much time getting my students' laptops ready. Going to the Android SDK page, we see the following:

There are two options for Windows. Choose the one *not* recommended. Here's the link.

After that proceed with setup as per normal. Here are the steps since I am often asked about them.

Downloading the ADT Plugin

Assuming that you have a compatible version of the Eclipse IDE installed, 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.

* If Eclipse can not find the remote update site containing the ADT plugin, set the Location for the remote site to:

http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

Adding Platforms and Other Components

* From within Eclipse, select Window > Android SDK and AVD Manager.

Select the components you want.