Android Tutorial

Introduction Setting Up Environment History of Android Android Architecture Android Boot Process Components of an Android Activity Lifecycle Context in Android

Setting Up Environment

January 22, 2026 • 2 min read

What You Need:

  1. Android Studio - Your main tool (IDE) for writing code and building apps
    • Download from: developer.android.com
    • It includes everything: code editor, emulator, debugger
  2. Java or Kotlin - Programming languages
    • Java: Traditional, more resources available, widely used
    • Kotlin: Modern, cleaner syntax, Google's preferred language
    • I recommend starting with Kotlin
  3. Android SDK - Software Development Kit (comes with Android Studio)
    • Collection of tools to build Android apps

First-Time Setup Steps:

  1. Install Android Studio
  2. Configure SDK (Android Studio guides you)
  3. Create a virtual device (emulator) to test apps
  4. Create your first "Hello World" project

Project Structure Explained

When you create a new project, you'll see many folders. Here's what matters:

MyApp/
├── app/
│   ├── manifests/
│   │   └── AndroidManifest.xml  (App configuration - permissions, activities)
│   ├── java/
│   │   └── com.example.myapp/   (Your Kotlin/Java code goes here)
│   └── res/
│       ├── drawable/             (Images, icons)
│       ├── layout/               (XML files defining UI)
│       ├── values/               (Colors, strings, styles)
│       └── mipmap/               (App icons)
└── Gradle Scripts/               (Build configuration)

Important Files:

  • MainActivity.kt - Your main code file
  • activity_main.xml - Your main layout file
  • AndroidManifest.xml - App configuration file
  • build.gradle - Dependencies and build settings