Home > Articles > Mobile Application Development & Programming

Android Wireless Application Development: Writing Your First Android Application

📄 Contents

  1. Testing Your Development Environment
  2. Building Your First Android Application
  3. Summary
In this chapter, you learn how to add and create Android projects in Eclipse and verify that your Android development environment is set up correctly. You also write and debug your first Android application in the software emulator and on an Android device.
This chapter is from the book

You should now have a workable Android development environment set up on your computer. Hopefully, you also have an Android device as well. Now it’s time for you to start writing some Android code. In this chapter, you learn how to add and create Android projects in Eclipse and verify that your Android development environment is set up correctly. You also write and debug your first Android application in the software emulator and on an Android device.

Testing Your Development Environment

The best way to make sure you configured your development environment correctly is to take an existing Android application and run it. You can do this easily by using one of the sample applications provided as part of the Android SDK in the samples subdirectory found where your Android SDK is installed.

Within the Android SDK sample applications, you will find a classic game called Snake (http://goo.gl/wRojX). To build and run the Snake application, you must create a new Android project in your Eclipse workspace based on the existing Android sample project, create an appropriate Android Virtual Device (AVD) profile, and configure a launch configuration for that project. After you have everything set up correctly, you can build the application and run it on the Android emulator and on an Android device. By testing your development environment with a sample application, you can rule out project configuration and coding issues and focus on determining whether the tools are set up properly for Android development. After this fact has been established, you can move on to writing and compiling your own applications.

Adding the Snake Project to Your Eclipse Workspace

The first thing you need to do is add the Snake project to your Eclipse workspace. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Choose File, New, Other....
  2. Choose Android, Android Sample Project (see Figure 3.1). Click Next.
    Figure 3.1

    Figure 3.1 Creating a new Android project.

  3. Choose your build target (see Figure 3.2). In this case, we’ve picked Android 4.0, API Level 14, from the Android Open Source Project. Click Next.
    Figure 3.2

    Figure 3.2 Choose an API level for the sample.

  4. Next, select which sample you want to create (see Figure 3.3). Choose Snake.
    Figure 3.3

    Figure 3.3 Picking the sample project.

  5. Click Finish. You now see the Snake project files in your workspace (see Figure 3.4).
    Figure 3.4

    Figure 3.4 The Snake project files.

Creating an Android Virtual Device (AVD) for Your Snake Project

The next step is to create an AVD that describes what type of device you want to emulate when running the Snake application. This AVD profile describes what type of device you want the emulator to simulate, including which Android platform to support. You do not need to create new AVDs for each application, only for each device you want to emulate. You can specify different screen sizes and orientations, and you can specify whether the emulator has an SD card and, if it does, what capacity the card is.

For the purposes of this example, an AVD for the default installation of Android 2.3.3 suffices. Here are the steps to create a basic AVD:

  1. Launch the Android Virtual Device Manager from within Eclipse by clicking the little Android device icon on the toolbar (03icon01.jpg). If you cannot find the icon, you can also launch the manager through the Window menu of Eclipse.
  2. Click the New button.
  3. Choose a name for your AVD. Because we are going to take all the defaults, give this AVD a name of Android_Vanilla4.0.
  4. Choose a build target. We want a typical Android 4.0 device, so choose Google APIs (Google Inc.) – API Level 14 from the drop-down menu. This will include the Google Android applications, such as the Maps application, as part of the platform image.
  5. Choose an SD card capacity, in either kibibytes or mibibytes. Not familiar with kibibytes? See this Wikipedia entry: http://goo.gl/N3Rdd. This SD card image will take up space on your hard drive, so choose something reasonable, such as 1024MiB.
  6. Seriously consider enabling the Snapshot feature. This feature greatly improves emulator startup performance. See Appendix A, “The Android Emulator Quick-Start Guide,” for details.
  7. Choose a skin. This option controls the different resolutions of the emulator. In this case, we use the recommended WVGA800 screen. (The emulator in Tools R14 has known performance issues with running the standard Android 4.0 screen resolution of WXGA720.) This skin most directly correlates to the popular 4.0 devices. Feel free to choose the most appropriate skin to match the Android device on which you plan to run the application.

    Your project settings will look like Figure 3.5.

    Figure 3.5

    Figure 3.5 Creating a new AVD.

  8. Click the Create AVD button and then wait for the operation to complete.
  9. Click Finish. Because the AVD manager formats the memory allocated for SD card images, creating AVDs with SD cards could take a few moments.

For more information on creating different types of AVDs, check out Appendix A.

Creating a Launch Configuration for Your Snake Project

Next, you must create a launch configuration in Eclipse to configure under what circumstances the Snake application builds and launches. The launch configuration is where you configure the emulator options to use and the entry point for your application.

You can create Run configurations and Debug configurations separately, each with different options. These configurations are created under the Run menu in Eclipse (Run, Run Configurations and Run, Debug Configurations). Follow these steps to create a basic Debug configuration for the Snake application:

  1. Choose Run, Debug Configurations.
  2. Double-click Android Application to create a new configuration.
  3. Name your Debug configuration SnakeDebugConfiguration.
  4. Choose the project by clicking the Browse button and choosing the Snake project.
  5. Switch to the Target tab and, from the preferred AVD list, choose the Android_Vanilla4.0 AVD created earlier, as shown in Figure 3.6.
Figure 3.6

Figure 3.6 The Snake application Debug configuration in Eclipse.

You can set other emulator and launch options on the Target and Common tabs, but for now we are leaving the defaults as they are.

Running the Snake Application in the Android Emulator

Now you can run the Snake application using the following steps:

  1. Choose the Debug As icon drop-down menu on the toolbar (03icon02.jpg).
  2. Pull the drop-down menu and choose the SnakeDebugConfiguration you created. If you do not see your new configuration listed, find it in the Debug Configurations listing and click the Debug button. Subsequent launches can be initiated from the little bug drop-down.
  3. The Android emulator starts up; this might take a few moments to initialize. Then the application will be installed or reinstalled onto the emulator.
    Figure 3.7

    Figure 3.7 Configuring AVD launch options.

  4. If necessary, swipe the screen from left to right to unlock the emulator, as shown in Figure 3.8.
    Figure 3.8

    Figure 3.8 The Android emulator launching (locked).

  5. The Snake application starts and you can play the game, as shown in Figure 3.9.
    Figure 3.9

    Figure 3.9 The Snake game in the Android emulator.

You can interact with the Snake application through the emulator and play the game. You can also launch the Snake application from the Application drawer at any time by clicking its application icon. There is no need to shut down and restart the emulator every time you rebuild and reinstall your application for testing. Simply leave the emulator running on your computer in the background while you work in Eclipse and then redeploy using the Debug configuration again.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020