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I am starting to develop Android applications. Which version of Eclipse should I use?

I see there are 11 versions. I am confused with these:

  1. Eclipse IDE for Java Developers
  2. Eclipse Classic 3.6.1
  3. Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers
  4. Pulsar for Mobile Developers
Peter Mortensen
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Imrul.H
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    As this questions is 9 month old now, can you testify that the best-rated answer below is still the best? – Mateng Jul 10 '11 at 18:39
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    actually that was the quickest answer and helped me a lot saving my time. I was satisfied with that and it deserves best answer. – Imrul.H Jul 13 '11 at 05:27

14 Answers14

102

Update July 2017:

From ADT Plugin page, the question must be unasked:

The Eclipse ADT plugin is no longer supported, as per this announcement in June 2015.

The Eclipse ADT plugin has many known bugs and potential security bugs that will not be fixed.

You should immediately switch to use Android Studio, the official IDE for Android. For help transitioning your projects, read Migrate to Android Studio.

Jeff Axelrod
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    from the android developer link, I see this one [http://eclipse.org/mobile/](http://eclipse.org/mobile/). probably an optimized version for mobile developers – coderek Mar 03 '13 at 05:06
  • @Jeff Axelrod Did you mean Eclipse Classic 3.6.1 ? – Roy Lee Mar 29 '13 at 07:47
  • I just get the bundle. On a side-note, I am *SO* ready to switch to Android Studio ! – Someone Somewhere Jan 17 '14 at 00:46
  • FYI, nowadays the answer is to migrate your development from Eclipse to Android Studio: https://developer.android.com/studio/intro/migrate.html , or if starting today, skip Eclipse entirely: https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html – ToolmakerSteve Sep 19 '16 at 09:10
21

The easiest solution is to download the Android SDK bundle:

http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/bundle.html

The ADT Bundle provides everything you need to start developing apps, including a version of the Eclipse IDE with built-in ADT (Android Developer Tools) to streamline your Android app development.

Peter Mortensen
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programmer
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  • Google has hi-jacked that link and it now goes to the install for Android Studio. I hated Android Studio and never got out of gradle hell. Maybe I'm dumb. - back to eclipse for me. – pdschuller Feb 24 '15 at 02:52
7

Released in June 2012, Eclipse for Mobile Developers is an awesome starting point for developers looking to focus on Android development. I've used it for several projects since August and haven't been disappointed.

Kyle Clegg
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    I've been using this, but it seems to have no support for html/javascript files. If you're writing apps in html/javascript/PhoneGap this is a problem. Navigated here while trying to find the solution. – JonRed Apr 10 '13 at 14:05
7

I literally did this 1 hour ago.

  1. SDK R7
  2. Get Java - if you don't have (its the first image link JDK)
  3. Get Eclipse - it's the first on the list with the most downloads
  4. Android Plugin

Download the appropriate files for your OS. The Android SDK needs java in order to install. Once you get the Android SDK installed go get eclipse and install that. Basically download the file and unzip then in a directory. The android install is the same but it will install a lot more files. (5) Finally open eclipse and go to help > install new software >> and add the url to the plugin - I used this one https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

thenengah
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  • See my notes about Android Plugin (ADT) and Helios incompatibility. It may appear to work initially, but it's currently not recommended by the Android ADT developers. – Jeff Axelrod Oct 30 '10 at 14:46
  • ok, I see. I had some erros, not sure where they were coming from. – thenengah Oct 30 '10 at 16:34
5

**June 2012 **

Google Recommends Eclipse Helios, Eclipse Classic or Eclipse RCP. For details, read the below post.

URL: http://developer.android.com/sdk/eclipse-adt.html

Look under ADT 18.0.0 (April 2012).

Eclipse Helios (Version 3.6.2) or higher is required for ADT 18.0.0.

Look under Installing the ADT Plugin.

If you need to install or update Eclipse, you can download it from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/. The "Eclipse Classic" version is recommended. Otherwise, a Java or RCP version of Eclipse is recommended.

April 2014 Updated

Eclipse Indigo (Version 3.7.2) or higher is required. I'll suggest you to use Eclipse Kepler.

ADT 22.6.0 (March 2014)

Peter Mortensen
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AZ_
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2

Eclipse 3.5 for Java Developer is the best option for you and 3.6 version is good but not at all because of compatibility issues.

Vikas Patidar
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2

As of 10/2011 ... classic is fine for Android development.

See Compare Eclipse Packages for a nice chart.

Peter Mortensen
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Noah
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1

If you are just getting into Android, you would be well served by using Android Studio rather than using any version of Eclipse. Android Studio was released in 2013 and provides a nice integrated development environment for developing for Android.

Android Studio is based on IntelliJ, which is a great java devlopment environment. It also has these specific Android features:

  • Gradle-based build support.
  • Android-specific refactoring and quick fixes.
  • Lint tools to catch performance, usability, version compatibility and other problems.
  • ProGuard and app-signing capabilities.
  • Template-based wizards to create common Android designs and components.
  • A rich layout editor that allows you to drag-and-drop UI components, preview layouts on multiple screen configurations, and much more.

You can download it here.

HalR
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  • Caution: Android Studio is currently available as an early access preview. Several features are either incomplete or not yet implemented and you may encounter bugs. – Vit Khudenko Jun 16 '13 at 20:33
  • Caution? It works great! If you are learning, learn the IntelliJ based systems, like Android Studio. Don't burn brain cycles with Eclipse. – HalR Jun 18 '13 at 03:54
  • If I were a beginner Android developer && involved in a commercial project (versus a pet one) I would still use Eclipse for now because of risks. That caution is taken from the official site, so they probably have reasons for declaring that. – Vit Khudenko Jun 18 '13 at 07:37
  • Have you used IntelliJ before? All of my close circle of professional Android developers have been on IntelliJ for quite some time, and have moved over to Android Studio. The cautions remind me of typical warnings that are prompted by horrible U.S. attorneys. Kind of like "Caution- hot coffee is hot. I just hate the idea of someone wasting time figuring out how to develop in Eclipse, only to have to change over to IntelliJ later. – HalR Jun 18 '13 at 15:55
  • :) OK, while in general I support using this new tool, I just wanted to mention there is another side of the medal. I would refrain from further comments, since this is not a chat and finally picking an IDE has a "matter of taste" component. – Vit Khudenko Jun 18 '13 at 17:44
0

The best option is to use the free community version of Intellij Idea 11+. The ADT eclipse plugin is always having problems.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=26774

Leif Ashley
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You can use the Eclipse Indigo EE version for Android development. It is quite good, and I haven't faced any issues so far.

Peter Mortensen
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gangeshwari
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Just because it's not on here Nvidia has a nice package that simplifies getting it set up and running with an added bonus of supporting 3D acceleration on capable TEGRA enabled devices.

You may find it here.

Peter Mortensen
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ransom bot
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I would recommend at least Eclipse Indigo (v 3.7) for Android Development because even though a minimum of Helios (v 3.6) is required for ADT 22.0.1 as explained here...

http://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/eclipse-adt.html

... Indigo is required for Android NDK development using CDT, as explained here:

http://tools.android.com/recent/usingthendkplugin

user608578
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Get the full Android-SDK plus the dependencies at http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html.

Do have Java installed :)

Peter Mortensen
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softvar
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The ADT plug-in is yet not compatible with 3.6

I have been using Eclipse 3.6 with ADT for the past three months for developing applications on Android. I haven't faced any issues so far. It really good and working fine.

Navaneeth Sen
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    From the Android system requirements page: "Caution: There are known issues with the ADT plugin running with Eclipse 3.6. Please stay on 3.5 until further notice." P.S., you may want to address replies like this as comments, not answers. – Jeff Axelrod Sep 25 '10 at 14:21
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    oops.. i am sorry.. i dint knew that.. shall i delete the post?? – Navaneeth Sen Sep 27 '10 at 05:06