Case 1 in question:
I have been trying to have a “pure” 64-bit development environment on Windows 7. It cannot be done. See the two threads here:
64-bit Eclipse won't install .apk on Android emulator
How do I pause the command window when launching an app?
Has anyone been successful in using 64-bit Eclipse for Android 2.3 dev on 64-bit Windows 7?
I understand that 64-bit development on Windows 7 is not officially supported but then the obvious question is why? Why can’t Google catch up with Microsoft?
Case 2 in question:
Even on 32-bit Windows XP, the recommended development platform/tools for Android, behaves in an unpredictable manner (how can one project schedules like this?):
Huh? Android Preferences page refuses to load after adding SDK 1.6
Unlike programming for Windows using Microsoft’s tools which is very stable and very predictable, my experience with Eclipse + Android plugin + Android SDKs is that I never know what kind of a “landmine” is waiting for me around the corner…
So my question is: Why is that?
- Is it because Eclipse is the alpha
version of WebSphere (similar to how
Fedora is the alpha for RHEL)? - Is it because Android plugins and
SDKs are constantly in beta? (like
Gmail used to be for many years)? - Is it because neither Eclipse nor
Android tools & SDKs (for Windows) are adequately
tested?
Please advise.
Note to the “trigger-happy” folks: If you vote to close this thread, you are essentially expressing distrust in community members to conduct an honest discussion about the current state of the Android development tools for Windows (with the potential of contributing to an improved tools set).
Update (1): Observing the down-votes, it is amusing to see how people prefer to ‘click’ instead of providing useful answers in the links above. Actually, it is not amusing, it is sad.
Update (2): I truly appreciate Paul McMillan’s answer which was the most concrete and to-the-point. However, it was edited by someone else to include spin-doctoring like “Fedora isn’t the alpha for RHEL either – it’s just more bleeding edge” so I had to accept the next best answer.
Update (3): I can’t believe that there are professionals who suggest working (on a daily basis, not for administration purposes) from an Admin account. I can understand lay home users doing so, but computer professionals?
Update (4): I managed to find a workaround for the problem described in case #2 (see link above). This took time that was intended for getting up and running with actual Android programming.
Update (5): I resorted to installing the same 64-bit development environment (Android 2.3) under Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit. Not a single hassle. And it’s FAST. What a pleasure.
Update (6): I finally nailed down the source of this great ordeal. It turned out to be the Comodo Firewall (aka CIS).
If Eclipse is not working out, you have options to “develop” for the Android from the command line.