Chapter 4:
Exploring the Android SDK
What Is in the Android SDK? The Android SDK is downloaded in a simple zipped package (as described in Chapter 3). The bulk of the Android SDK, in number of files, consists of documentation, with programming APIs, tools, and samples comprising the rest. This section provides a closer look at exactly what is included in the Android SDK.
TIP Chapter 3 suggested that you extract the Android SDK to the Program Files folder, so that it would be easier to track. If you are having trouble finding the SDK because you used the default extraction setting, it should be in the following folder: /%downloadfolder%/android-sdk_m5-rc14_windows/android-sdk_m5-rc14_windows.
Navigate to the folder where you unpacked the Android SDK so that you can begin to explore the folder structure within. While there are a few files in the root folder, like android.jar (a compiled Java application containing the core SDK libraries and APIs) and some release notes, the remainder of the Android SDK is divided into three main folders: ●
Docs
Contains all of the accompanying Android documentation
NOTE Much of the documentation found in the Docs folder can also be found on the http://code.google.com/android Android development site. ●
●
Samples Contains six sample applications that you can compile and test from within Eclipse Tools Contains all of the development, compilation, and debugging tools that you need throughout the development process of an Android application
The following sections discuss in a bit more detail what is included in each of the SDK folders. Each API demo is compiled and run to illustrate the capabilities of Android. Many of the tools are discussed and demonstrated in later chapters as you learn how to create and compile applications using the command-line options of Microsoft Windows and Linux.
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