Android Developer Tools Essentials

Android development can be challenging, but through the effective use of Android Developer Tools (ADT), you can make the process easier and improve the quality of your code. This concise guide demonstrates how to build apps with ADT for a device family that features several screen sizes, different hardware capabilities, and a varying number of resources.

With examples in Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, you'll learn how to set up an Android development environment and use ADT with the Eclipse IDE. Also, contributor Donn Felker introduces Android Studio, a Google IDE that will eventually replace Eclipse.

Learn how to use Eclipse and ADT together to develop Android code

Create emulators of various sizes and configurations to test your code

Master Eclipse tools, or explore the new Android Studio

Use Logcat, Lint, and other ADT tools to test and debug your code

Simulate real-world events, including location, sensors, and telephony

Create dynamic and efficient UIs, using Graphical Layout tools

Monitor and optimize you application performance using DDMS, HierarchyViewer, and the Android Monitor tool

Use Wizards and shortcuts to generate code and image assets

Compile and package Android code with Ant and Gradle