Anyone using Eclipse on Windows to develop Android apps?

[Simonta]

Hi folks

I'm starting off down the path of some Android app development.

My chosen OS is Windows 7 and I've downloaded the Java JDK, Eclipse and the Android SDK. All installed OK. My problem is that Eclipse appears, in early use, to be a steaming pile of poo compared to Visual Studio or XCode.

It took me a couple of hours to get the "Hello World" app running using the tutorial on the Android SDK and now I've moved past that onto some serious development, I find that I'm spending more time recovering from crashes and fighting bizarre errors in the environment than working on my app.

Is it worth persevering or should I switch to a different IDE? I would love to use Visual Studio but the lack of Intellisense, debugging and error checking on Java and the Android libraries seems to preclude that as an option.

I am not prepared to step back 10 years and start using Notepad++ and command lines and really don't want to have to resort to Linux.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Regards

Simon

[Gertrude the Wombat]

My problem is that Eclipse appears, in early use, to be a steaming pile of poo compared to Visual Studio

Yup, that's my view after using both for years.

Some people say NetBeans is better than Eclipse but more say that it's worse; I don't think they're that different, myself, unless you're doing Swing GUIs in which case NetBeans wins because it does actually have a half-arsed attempt at a dialog editor (Eclipse has nothing). I don't have any other suggestions. Maybe for my next job I'll refuse to do Java so that I can go back to using some decent tools and spend my time building code rather than fighting tools.

[MG23]

Originally Posted by Simonta

My problem is that Eclipse appears, in early use, to be a steaming pile of poo compared to Visual Studio or XCode.

Don't worry, it appears like that after long-term use too .

In my experience Eclipse is generally better than vi, but while I usually avoid Microsoft software I have to admit that Visual Studio (at least the versions I've used up to 2008) is one of the best IDEs around.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

I have to admit that Visual Studio (at least the versions I've used up to 2008) is one of the best IDEs around

Except the .NET and 2003 versions which were pretty crap. I always advised clients to move straight from v6 to 2005.

[Simonta]

GTW and MG23, thanks for the insights. I did try setting up VS with scripts and batch jobs but it's even more painful than Eclipse.

I finally plunked for an Ubuntu VM.

Maybe I can make my fortune by developing a high quality IDE for Android dev

[dusk2dawn]

Please go ahead - make it an android specific IDE. Keep it simple...