and its system requirements.
Although the Android operating system is based on Linux, the Android SDK and tools are available for all major operating systems, so you can set up your development environment for the operating system you are working with. Throughout this book we use Mac OS as the main environment; however, we cover Linux and Windows setup as well.
To use Android Studio, your development system must meet the minimum system requirements. This section lists the minimum requirements for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Microsoft Windows
• Microsoft Windows 10/8/7/Vista/2003 (32 or 64 bit)
• 2GB RAM minimum, 4GB RAM recommended
• 400MB hard disk space
• At least 1GB for Android SDK, emulator system images, and caches
• 1280 × 800 minimum screen resolution
• Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 or higher
• Java Development Kit (JDK) 7
• Optional for accelerated emulator: Intel processor with support for Intel VT-x, Intel EM64T (Intel 64), and Execute Disable (XD) Bit functionality
Mac OS X
• Mac OS X 10.8.5 or higher, up to 10.9 (Maverick)
• 2GB RAM minimum, 4GB RAM recommended
• 400MB hard disk space
• At least 1GB for Android SDK, emulator system images, and caches
• 1280 × 800 minimum screen resolution
• Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6
• Java Development Kit (JDK) 7
• Optional for accelerated emulator: Intel processor with support for Intel VT-x, Intel EM64T (Intel 64), and Execute Disable (XD) Bit functionality
Linux
• GNOME or KDE desktop
• GNU C Library (glibc) 2.15 or later
• 2GB RAM minimum, 4GB RAM recommended
• 400MB hard disk space
• At least 1GB for Android SDK, emulator system images, and caches
• 1280 × 800 minimum screen resolution
• Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 or higher
• Oracle Java Development Kit (JDK) 7
More details about system requirements can be found at https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#Requirements.
Keep in mind that based on the size of the project, number of your dependencies, and emulator usage, you will likely need more resources. Typically, you will need at least 8GB of RAM and GPU support to run an emulator and work smoothly with better compilation times.
In most cases, developers need to test applications on multiple devices. Because they usually don't have enough devices to test adequately, they rely on emulators. Emulators require a high amount of storage and memory to run faster.
NOTE
Emulators are virtual devices, so having a CPU with virtualization support is crucial for developers to get the best experience with Android emulators.
Java is essential for all operating systems. You must install Java SE (Standard Edition) Development Kit (JDK) for your operating system.
NOTE
We suggest the Java distribution provided by Oracle. It is possible to encounter problems with OpenJDK or other Java distributions.
NOTE
At the time of this writing, Java SE 8 is the latest version of JDK.
The JDK 7 download page can be accessed directly at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk7-downloads-1880260.html. When you navigate there, the page shown in Figure 1.1 appears.
Figure 1.1 JDK download page
To download the required installation binary or packages, select the Accept License Agreement option and then click the download link of the binary or package for your operating system.
The following sections provide installation instructions for Oracle Java version 7 on 64 bit Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Installing Java for Windows OS
Java installation on Windows is pretty straightforward. As mentioned in the previous section, installing JDK provides JRE as well.
NOTE
Depending on the version of your Windows installation, you need to download and install either the 64 bit or 32 bit version of the JDK. Since most modern computers are equipped with 64 bit CPUs, we will continue with installation of the 64 bit version. If you have a 32 bit Windows installation, use the 32 bit JDK, which is listed as the Windows x86 version.
Download the jdk-7u79-windows-x64.exe file and run it to start the installation.
Install Java
Start the Java installation by clicking the jdk-7u79-windows-x64.exe file after downloading it; you will see the dialog box shown in Figure 1.2.
Figure 1.2 Java installation setup wizard
1. Click the Next button to continue.
2. In the window that opens, all items are selected by default to be installed on your local hard drive. You can change the installation path and which installation modules to install. For Android application development, the Public JRE and Development Tools options must be selected if they are not already installed on your machine. (If they are already installed, they will not be listed inside the window.) You may deselect Source Code, which is used to install public Java API classes. It is not mandatory to install the source code. Make your selections in the dialog shown in Figure 1.3.
3. We suggest that you continue with the default selections and use the default installation path, then click Next to finish the installation.
Figure 1.3 Java installation setup window
Setting
