I'd like to venture into creating apps for Android. At first I would make one just for my own use.
What tools would I need to set up my development environment? My application would use database, is there any more recommended?
And the language, are there options or is it just java?
Here , you have a tutorial teaching you to configure everything right.
It has an android booklet, which I recommend, is this here
To program to android, the ideal is in Java or Kotlin, which are the two official languages of Android (can be combined, that is, some classes in Kotlin and others in Java), but also have other options such as Phonegap , which is a framework that allows you to program using HTML5 and Javascript
Tutorials on how to use Phonegap , here and here
The Android API offers different options when it comes to saving data to be used posteriorly. Which option is most appropriate depends on the type of information that will be saved and the availability that you want it to have. Here are a few:
There are several IDE for Android development. I use Eclipse with plugin for Android, below some I know:
Monodroid is today one of the best options for anyone who wants to develop for Android without abandoning Visual Studio. For those who know Visual Studio and C #, this is very valuable.
Regarding the database, Android uses SQLite as native.
To develop for android you have two options or use WebApp or native.
WebApp
You will use knowledge from Html5 + CSS3 + Javascript and then you will package this app with options like phonegap / cordova titanium or other, the application will be web, but will run "native" will be slower than a native application but with few changes wheel in android and iOS.
These tools that package your code have libraries (in javascript) that give you access to your device and then you get almost everything you could get with a native application.
Native Application You will get the performance advantages and more options to access the cellphone settings basically. You will need Android SDK, here , and we recommend using eclipse.
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The default development tool for Android is the Android SDK , you can check it out at .
The operating system as a whole is designed to run Java applications, so it's a little hard to get away from it. There is the possibility of running native code in C language, but this is little recommended by Google. Even then you would not develop end-user applications without using Java, but usually just libraries.
On database need, for local database you probably want to use SQLite. Otherwise you will probably use some web service technology.
There is a version of the Eclipse IDE that integrates the Android SDK where you can preview your work, which makes the work, at least in relation to the user interface development, more productive.
A tool to develop in a single language but generating for several platforms in native form (Android, iOS) is GeneXus: link
Allows you to not only create the Smart Device app natively, but also the web backend (Java, C #, Ruby) for the App to connect and synchronize data automatically with any database (Mysql, Oracle, MSSQL , Postgresql, Db2).
One option for development for both Android, iOS and others is Titanium Appcelerator .
It works with MVC framework, most of your code is javascript and easy to understand.
