1page.title=The Developer's Guide 2@jd:body 3 4<p> 5Welcome to the <i>Android Dev Guide</i>! The Dev Guide is 6a practical introduction to developing applications for Android. 7It explores the concepts behind Android, the framework for 8constructing an application, and the tools for developing, 9testing, and publishing software for the platform. 10</p> 11 12<p> 13The Dev Guide holds most of the documentation for the Android 14platform, except for reference material on the framework API. 15For API specifications, go to the 16<a href="{@docRoot}reference/packages.html">Reference</a> tab above. 17</p> 18 19<p> 20As you can see in the panel on the left, the Dev Guide is 21divided into a handful of sections. They are: 22<p> 23 24<dl> 25<dt><b>Android Basics</b></dt> 26<dd>An initial orientation to Android — what it is, 27what it offers, and how your application fits in.</dd> 28 29<dt><b>Framework Topics</b></dt> 30<dd>Discussions of particular parts of the Android framework 31and API. For an overview of the framework, begin with 32<a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/fundamentals.html">Application 33Fundamentals</a>. Then explore other topics — from 34designing a user interface and setting up resources to storing 35data and using permissions — as needed.</dd> 36 37<dt><b>Developing</b></dt> 38<dd>Directions for using Android's development and debugging tools, 39and for testing the results.</dd> 40 41<dt><b>Publishing</b></dt> 42<dd>Instructions on how to prepare your application for deployment 43and how to publish it when it's ready.</dd> 44 45<dt><b>Best Practices</b></dt> 46<dd>Recommendations on preferred techniques for writing 47applications that perform efficiently and work well for the 48user.</dd> 49 50<dt><b>Tutorials and Samples</b></dt> 51<dd>Step-by-step tutorials and sample code demonstrating how 52an Android application is constructed.</dd> 53 54<dt><b>Appendix</b></dt> 55<dd>Reference information and specifications, as well as FAQs, 56a glossary of terms, and other information.</dd> 57</dl> 58 59<p> 60The first step in programming for Android is downloading the SDK 61(software development kit). For instructions and information about 62the kit, go to the <a href="{@docRoot}sdk/index.html">SDK</a> tab above. 63</p> 64 65<p> 66After you have the SDK, begin by looking over the Dev Guide. 67If you want to start by getting a quick look at the code, the short 68<a href="{@docRoot}guide/tutorials/hello-world.html">Hello World</a> 69tutorial walks you through a standard "Hello, World" application as 70it would be written for the Android platform. The 71<a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/fundamentals.html">Application 72Fundamentals</a> document is a good place to start for an 73understanding of the application framework. 74</p> 75 76 77<p> 78For additional help, consider joining one or more of the Android 79discussion groups. Go to the 80<a href="{@docRoot}community/index.html">Community</a> tab above 81for more information. 82</p> 83 84<p>To return to this page later, just click the "Dev Guide" tab while any Dev Guide page is loaded. </p>