Android™ Tablet Application Development For Dummies®

Running the Hello Android App

Congratulations! You've made it! Understanding the basics of how to get an Android application up and running is a simple yet detailed process. You're now ready to see your hard work in action. You've created a launch configuration and an Android Virtual Device; now it's time for you to get the application running. Finally!

Running the application is simple. Just choose RunRun or press Ctrl+F11 (but don't do that now!). Doing so causes the ADT to compile your application and launch it in an emulator using the default launch configuration you built earlier in this chapter — in this case, ExampleConfiguration.

However, the Android 3.0 WXGA emulator is huge, and unless you start the emulator first, running your app will bring up the emulator full size — a size well beyond the bounds of your screen, making the emulator impossible to use. This is because the screen density of the emulator matches that of your display. Because tablets are high density devices, the overall screen size will be very large, expanding beyond the length of your screen. When you start the emulator before running your app, however, you can define the size of its display to fit your screen. To start the emulator and launch your Hello Android app, follow these steps:

1. Open the Android SDK Manager from the Eclipse menu on the toolbar.

   This is the same step that you performed when you ...