Installation: development setup

What you'll need:

• A Laptop. Linux, Windows, or Mac, whatever your preference.

• The CycleStreets for Android source code. The source code lives up on GitHub, so grab a copy by forking it. If you don’t already have a Github account, you will need to create one. You’ll also need need a copy of Git itself.

• The Android SDK. To build the code, you’ll need the Android SDK. Use the point-and-click installer, as otherwise it will download 3GB of stuff containing every possible component package, which is not necessary (see next bullet-point below).

• Android SDK packages: Once you have the base SDK, you then need to add various components. Make sure you have these:

  • API level 8 (i.e. Android version 2.2)
  • SDK Tools
  • SDK Platform Tools

• Eclipse IDE. Strictly speaking, the SDK and a text editor are more or less all you need, but you will probably find this a little easier using it with the Eclipse IDE. The integration with Eclipse is very good, the code completion support will help you work your way through an unfamiliar API, and the debugging support is excellent.

• (Optional) An Android device. The Android SDK supports Virtual Devices you can run on your laptop, but it’s quicker and easier to run your code on a real device.