APPENDIX A
How To Get Started
Let us get you set up with the pieces and parts necessary to build an
Android app.
If you would prefer not to install all of this software on your development
machine, you can download a Ubuntu VirtualBox image that contains
everything described below. Note that this image is 1.6GB and therefore
may take some time to download. This image will be updated periodically
to reflect newer editions of the Android SDK and development tools. The
user account is android with a password of bugdroid.
NOTE: the instructions presented here are accurate as of the time of this
writing. However, the tools change rapidly, and so these instructions may
be out of date by the time you read this. Please refer to the Android
Developers Web site for current instructions, using this as a base guideline
of what to expect.
Java
When you write Android applications, you typically write them in Java
source code. That Java source code is then turned into the stuff that
Android actually runs (Dalvik bytecode in an APK file).
Hence, the first thing you need to do is get set up with a Java development
environment and be ready to start writing Java classes.