Android - Logistics requirement

[Anil Vupputuri]

Hi Jeff,

Welcome. I am newbie to Mobile development. What are the bare minimum logistics required for Android development. I know for building applications for iPhone, one has to pay membership fee and purchase simulator, so what's up for Android.

And also people say Android is open source where as for iPhone, it is not. So, what exactly is an open source here. Thanks.

[Ulf Dittmer]

The Android SDK is free and has everything you need to develop Android app, including an emulator, a debugger and a tool to upload your applications to actual devices.

The underlying Linux OS is open source, as is the Dalvik VM and the software that runs on top of that: http://source.android.com/

[James Elsey]

Best thing you can do is setup a development environment and get stuck in, start reading blogs/forums etc. Thats how I've managed it so far and its worked nicely