The Developer's Guide

Welcome to the Android Dev Guide! The Dev Guide is a practical introduction to developing applications for Android. It explores the concepts behind Android, the framework for constructing an application, and the tools for developing, testing, and publishing software for the platform.

The Dev Guide holds most of the documentation for the Android platform, except for reference material on the framework API. For API specifications, go to the Reference tab above.

As you can see in the panel on the left, the Dev Guide is divided into a handful of sections. They are:

Android Basics

An initial orientation to Android — what it is, what it offers, and how your application fits in.

Framework Topics

Discussions of particular parts of the Android framework and API. For an overview of the framework, begin with Application Fundamentals. Then explore other topics — from designing a user interface and setting up resources to storing data and using permissions — as needed.

Developing

Directions for using Android's development and debugging tools, and for testing the results.

Publishing

Instructions on how to prepare your application for deployment and how to publish it when it's ready.

Best Practices

Recommendations on preferred techniques for writing applications that perform efficiently and work well for the user.

Tutorials and Samples

Step-by-step tutorials and sample code demonstrating how an Android application is constructed.

Appendix

Reference information and specifications, as well as FAQs, a glossary of terms, and other information.

The first step in programming for Android is downloading the SDK (software development kit). For instructions and information about the kit, go to the SDK tab above.

After you have the SDK, begin by looking over the Dev Guide. If you want to start by getting a quick look at the code, the short Hello World tutorial walks you through a standard "Hello, World" application as it would be written for the Android platform. The Application Fundamentals document is a good place to start for an understanding of the application framework.

For additional help, consider joining one or more of the Android discussion groups. Go to the Community tab above for more information.

To return to this page later, just click the "Dev Guide" tab while any Dev Guide page is loaded.