Installing the Android Development Tools (ADT)

Given that there are many versions of the Android framework already deployed on mobile platforms and a variety of handsets that support it, Android developers need tools that give them access to many device- and operating system-specific Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) available on the Android platform.

We're talking about not just the Android APIs but also handset-specific APIs. Each handset manufacturer likes to invest in the developer mindshare in their own way by providing exclusive APIs and services to their developers, for example, the HTC OpenSense APIs. The ADT consolidates access to these APIs; provides all the necessary tools to debug, develop, and deploy your Android apps; and makes it easy for you to download them and keep them up to date.

How to do it...

The following steps will walk you through the process of downloading the ADT and getting them up and running:

1. You'll need to head over to https://developer.android.com and navigate to the ADT Download page or just visit https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#download. You should see a page like the one in the following screenshot:
   
2. Once you're there, click on Download the SDK and the following screen should appear:
   
3. Of course, you will need to accept the license agreement before downloading and select the appropriate CPU type, or register size if you're not sure how to check your CPU type.

   On Windows, you need to complete the following steps:

   1. Click on Start.
   2. Right-click on My Computer.
   3. Select Properties.
   4. A window with your computer's system-specific information should pop up. The information you are looking for should be under the System section, labeled System type.
   

   To check your system type on Ubuntu, Debian, or Unix-based distributions, perform the following steps:

   1. Open a terminal either by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or simply launching it using the graphical interface.
   2. Execute the following command:

       	uname -a
      

   3. Alternatively, you could use lscpu that should show you something like the following screenshot:
   
4. When you're happy with the license agreement and you've selected the correct system type, click on Download in the ADT Download page. Once the ZIP file has been downloaded, it should look like the following screenshot on Windows:
   

The archive will have the same structure on the Linux- or Unix-based distributions.