1page.title=Creating an Android Project 2 3page.tags=project setup 4helpoutsWidget=true 5 6trainingnavtop=true 7next.title=Running Your App 8next.link=running-app.html 9 10@jd:body 11 12 13<!-- This is the training bar --> 14<div id="tb-wrapper"> 15<div id="tb"> 16 17<h2>This lesson teaches you to</h2> 18 19<ol> 20 <li><a href="#Studio">Create a Project with Android Studio</a></li> 21</ol> 22 23<h2>You should also read</h2> 24 25<ul> 26 <li><a href="{@docRoot}tools/projects/index.html">Managing Projects</a></li> 27</ul> 28 29 30</div> 31</div> 32 33<p>An Android project contains all the files that comprise the source code for your Android 34app.</p> 35 36<p>This lesson 37shows how to create a new project either using Android Studio or using the 38SDK tools from a command line.</p> 39 40<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> You should already have Android Studio or the Android SDK 41command-line tools installed. If not, <a 42href="{@docRoot}studio/index.html">download them</a> before you start this 43lesson.</p> 44 45 46<h2 id="Studio">Create a Project with Android Studio</h2> 47 48<ol> 49 <li>In Android Studio, create a new project: 50 <ul> 51 <li>If you don't have a project opened, in the <strong>Welcome</strong> screen, click <strong> 52 New Project</strong>.</li> 53 <li>If you have a project opened, from the <strong>File</strong> menu, select <strong>New 54 Project</strong>. The <em>Create New Project</em> screen appears.</li> 55 </ul> 56 </li> 57 <li>Fill out the fields on the screen, and click <strong>Next</strong>. 58 <p>It is easier to follow these lessons if you use the same values as shown.</p> 59 <ul> 60 <li><strong>Application Name</strong> is the app name that appears to users. 61 For this project, use "My First App."</li> 62 <li><strong>Company domain</strong> provides a qualifier that will be appended to the package 63 name; Android Studio will remember this qualifier for each new project you create.</li> 64 <li><strong>Package name</strong> is the fully qualified name for the project (following the 65 same rules as those for naming packages in the Java programming language). Your package name 66 must be unique across all packages installed on the Android system. You can <strong> 67 Edit</strong> this value independently from the application name or the company 68 domain.</li> 69 <li><strong>Project location</strong> is the directory on your system that holds the project 70 files.</li> 71 </ul> 72 </li> 73 <li>Under <strong>Select the form factors your app will run on</strong>, check the box for <strong> 74 Phone and Tablet</strong>.</li> 75 <li>For <strong>Minimum SDK</strong>, select <strong>API 8: Android 2.2 (Froyo)</strong>. 76 <p>The Minimum Required SDK is the earliest version of Android that your app supports, 77 indicated using the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html#ApiLevels"> 78 API level</a>. To support as many devices as possible, you should set this to the lowest 79 version available that allows your app to provide its core feature set. If any feature of your 80 app is possible only on newer versions of Android and it's not critical to the app's core 81 feature set, you can enable the feature only when running on the versions that support it (as 82 discussed in <a href="{@docRoot}training/basics/supporting-devices/platforms.html"> 83 Supporting Different Platform Versions</a>).</p></li> 84 <li>Leave all of the other options (TV, Wear, and Glass) unchecked and click <strong>Next.</strong></li> 85 <div class="sidebox-wrapper"> 86 <div class="sidebox"> 87 <h3>Activities</h3> 88 <p>An activity is one of the distinguishing features of the Android framework. Activities 89 provide the user with access to your app, and there may be many activities. An application 90 will usually have a main activity for when the user launches the application, another 91 activity for when she selects some content to view, for example, and other activities for 92 when she performs other tasks within the app. See <a href="{@docRoot}guide/components/activities.html"> 93 Activities</a> for more information.</p> 94 </div> 95 </div> 96 <li>Under <strong>Add an activity to <<em>template</em>></strong>, select <strong>Blank 97 Activity</strong> and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li> 98 <li>Under <strong>Customize the Activity</strong>, change the 99 <strong>Activity Name</strong> to <em>MyActivity</em>. The <strong>Layout Name</strong> changes 100 to <em>activity_my</em>, and the <strong>Title</strong> to <em>MyActivity</em>. The 101 <strong>Menu Resource Name</strong> is <em>menu_my</em>. 102 <li>Click the <strong>Finish</strong> button to create the project.</li> 103</ol> 104 105<p>Your Android project is now a basic "Hello World" app that contains some default files. Take a 106moment to review the most important of these:</p> 107 108<dl> 109 <dt><code>app/src/main/res/layout/activity_my.xml</code></dt> 110 <dd>This XML layout file is for the activity you added when you created the project 111 with Android Studio. Following the New Project workflow, Android Studio presents this file 112 with both a text 113 view and a preview of the screen UI. The file contains some default interface elements 114 from the material design library, including the 115 <a href="{@docRoot}training/appbar/index.html">app bar</a> and a floating action button. 116 It also includes a separate layout file with the main content.</dd> 117 118 <dt><code>app/src/main/res/layout/content_my.xml</code></dt> 119 <dd>This XML layout file resides in {@code activity_my.xml}, and contains some settings and 120 a {@code TextView} element that displays the message, "Hello world!".</dd> 121 122 <dt><code>app/src/main/java/com.mycompany.myfirstapp/MyActivity.java</code></dt> 123 <dd>A tab for this file appears in Android Studio when the New Project workflow finishes. When you 124 select the file you see the class definition for the activity you created. When you build and 125 run the app, the {@link android.app.Activity} class starts the activity and loads the layout file 126 that says "Hello World!"</dd> 127 <dt><code>app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml</code></dt> 128 <dd>The <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html">manifest file</a> describes 129 the fundamental characteristics of the app and defines each of its components. You'll revisit 130 this file as you follow these lessons and add more components to your app.</dd> 131 <dt><code>app/build.gradle</code></dt> 132 <dd>Android Studio uses Gradle to compile and build your app. There is a <code>build.gradle</code> 133 file for each module of your project, as well as a <code>build.gradle</code> file for the entire 134 project. Usually, you're only interested in the <code>build.gradle</code> file for the module, 135 in this case the <code>app</code> or application module. This is where your app's build dependencies 136 are set, including the <code>defaultConfig</code> settings: 137 <ul> 138 <li><code>compiledSdkVersion</code> is the platform version against which you will compile 139 your app. By default, this is set to the latest version of Android available in your SDK. 140 (It should be Android 4.1 or greater; if you don't have such a version available, you must 141 install one using the <a href="{@docRoot}studio/intro/update.html">SDK Manager</a>.) 142 You can still build your app to support older versions, but setting this to the latest 143 version allows you to enable new features and optimize your app for a great user experience 144 on the latest devices.</li> 145 <li><code>applicationId</code> is the fully qualified package name for your application that 146 you specified during the New Project workflow.</li> 147 <li><code>minSdkVersion</code> is the Minimum SDK version you specified during the New Project 148 workflow. This is the earliest version of the Android SDK that your app supports.</li> 149 <li><code>targetSdkVersion</code> indicates the highest version of Android with which you have 150 tested your application. As new versions of Android become available, you should 151 test your app on the new version and update this value to match the latest API level and 152 thereby take advantage of new platform features. For more information, read 153 <a href="{@docRoot}training/basics/supporting-devices/platforms.html">Supporting Different 154 Platform Versions</a>.</li> 155 </ul> 156 <p>See <a href="{@docRoot}studio/build/index.html">Building Your Project with Gradle</a> 157 for more information about Gradle.</p></dd> 158</dl> 159 160<p>Note also the <code>/res</code> subdirectories that contain the 161<a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/overview.html">resources</a> for your application:</p> 162<dl> 163 <dt><code>drawable<em>-<density></em>/</code></dt> 164 <dd>Directories for <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/drawable-resource.html"> 165 drawable resources</a>, other than launcher icons, designed 166 for various <a href="{@docRoot}training/multiscreen/screendensities.html">densities</a>. 167</dd> 168 <dt><code>layout/</code></dt> 169 <dd>Directory for files that define your app's user interface like {@code activity_my.xml}, 170 discussed above, which describes a basic layout for the {@code MyActivity} 171 class.</dd> 172 <dt><code>menu/</code></dt> 173 <dd>Directory for files that define your app's menu items.</dd> 174 <dt><code>mipmap/</code></dt> 175 <dd>Launcher icons reside in the {@code mipmap/} folder rather than the 176 {@code drawable/} folders. This folder contains the {@code ic_launcher.png} image 177 that appears when you run the default app.</dd> 178 <dt><code>values/</code></dt> 179 <dd>Directory for other XML files that contain a collection of resources, such as 180 string and color definitions.</dd> 181</dl> 182 183<p>To run the app, continue to the <a href="running-app.html">next lesson</a>.</p> 184
