Android Studio

Since Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world, since Android has more than 80% of the global smartphone market, it makes sense to develop Android applications. That is something you can do with the Google-developed and appropriately named Android Studio. It is an integrated development environment (IDE for short) that was specifically created to meet the needs of Android developers.

Android Studio is available for multiple platforms. It can be used on a machine powered by Windows, on a machine powered by Mac OS X, or on a machine powered by Linux.
Installing Android Studio on a Windows-powered machine is a simple matter: download an installer (a rather large installer that is about 500MB in size), run the installer, follow the instructions presented by a setup wizard.

Please note that Android Studio needs Java to run – JVM (Java Virtual Machine) and JDK (Java Development Kit). If you do not have Java on your PC, Android Studio will not run; you will be presented with a prompt that invites you to install it. Google is aware of the fact that on some Windows systems the launcher script does not find where Java is installed. This situation can be fixed by setting an environment variable that indicates the correct location where Java is installed.

A Welcome to Android Studio prompt will be displayed when you launch the application. On this prompt you can see several entries: start a new project, import or open an existing project, access some docs and how-tos, and more. From this Welcome prompt you can easily get started with a new project, play with the settings, or access some useful documentation.

Android Studio gives you all you need to develop apps for the Android mobile operating system. Useful tools for development and debugging are put at your disposal: Gradle-based build support, Android-specific refactoring and quick fixes, lint tools, ProGuard and app-signing capabilities, template-based wizards, rich layout editor, and more. Access to all this functionality is offered for the great price of free.

Get Google’s Android Studio and start developing apps for the mobile OS!