# Newbie dev question



## cspctec (Dec 9, 2012)

Hi, I hope this is the right forum to post this! I have just recently started trying to develop android apps using Eclipse on Linux Mint 14.1 OS. I have read through several tutorials and I still cannot get even my basic Hello World app installed on my Galaxy Nexus. I have the GN phone connected to my computer and Eclipse / Android SDK installed. I have tried running the command "ant debug" from the terminal as shown in the android app tutorial at developer.android.com but I get the error "Buildfile: build.xml does not exist! Build failed".

I've been getting a little frustrated so I wanted to come ask for help. If you need to know anything else about my OS or Eclipse setup just ask me. Any help would be appreciated.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Try intellij idea instead (I think it's more forgiving for those starting out): http://www.jetbrains...load/index.html (get the community version)

You also need the Android SDK from Google for Intellij as well: http://developer.and.../sdk/index.html as Intellij will ask you to point it towards the sdk directory.

They have some quick examples and tutorials on how to work with Android in it (it's mostly the same as eclipse, only different interface):

http://wiki.jetbrains.net/intellij/Simple_Android_application_from_scratch_in_IntelliJ_IDEA_11.0






http://wiki.jetbrains.net/intellij/Android

https://www.google.com/search?q=intellij+idea+android+tutorials&hl=en&http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&ved=0CEUQtwIwAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dg7m2IPJWopU&ei=dyjFUKHHL42vygHpuID4Cw&usg=AFQjCNE2G-DFksXsymhXBNab0zW8YqQUiA&sig2=sRFqkGBQsGcpMruOl7_P6wafe=off&hs=rwC&tbo=d&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&channel=fflb&source=lnt&tbs=qdr:y&sa=X&ei=cijFUMnMKsKDywH06YCIDA&ved=0CBwQpwUoBQ&biw=1229&bih=914

http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/features/android.html

I haven't used eclipse in several years, so can't really help with IDE specific problems with it, but I can answer questions about Intellij.


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## cspctec (Dec 9, 2012)

Well I downloaded and installed that IDE but I still can't compile my app because it says that I haven't specified my android sdk directory, but I have specified it, I did when I made the project. I don't know how to specify the sdk's directory after the project is open. I'm thinking I maybe should go develop on Windows instead of Linux. The main reason I'm developing on Linux is you don't have to worry about drivers for the phone, but just setting up the project seems like a hassle in Linux.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Did you watch the linked video? All it asks is what the guy is doing in the video there (obviously file paths are subject to change).


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## JBirdVegas (Jun 11, 2011)

Stay in Linux. Ditch Eclipse for Intellij IDEA. 
Eclipse may have generated the ant build file for you; look into the syntax and usage or ant...

ant --help or man ant

*Side note* haha man ant lol


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## cspctec (Dec 9, 2012)

I'm trying to develop an app that clears my call log / browser history / favorites and so on with a simple click of the app. I don't want to download the cleaner apps on the market, I just want to develop my own. Will this be a difficult project? A little about me, I work with Java (a little), Perl, and C++ at my job. I'm most used to C++. I have downloaded Intellij and am trying to get used to it (I run it on Linux Mint).

Is there a certain API I should look at to develop this app? I'm not really sure where to start with this.


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## JBirdVegas (Jun 11, 2011)

Use java... But you'll probably need root to clear the caches and private shared preferences of other apps. AOKP ROMControl has an open source root command executer and lots of usage examples.

Your also going to need to do some research about where those preferences and data is stored for each app. Also on 4.1+ you'll have to consider different users ie /sdcard/ may really be /emulated/1/ or something else.

I love the idea. I've always held that your best friends first job upon your death should be wiping your HDD. ;-)


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