Welcome to the Treehouse Community
Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.
Looking to learn something new?
Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.
Start your free trial
Josh Gold
12,207 PointsWhat do I need the Eclipse software for? I have not yet downloaded and installed this.
Yes this may be a dumb question...
What do I need the Eclipse software for? I have not yet downloaded and installed this.
3 Answers
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherJosh;
Welcome to Treehouse!
At the time of the filming of the course I believe Eclipse was the preferred IDE for Android development. Android Studio is now the preferred IDE and is based on the IntelliJ IDE. You can develop Android apps outside of Android Studio with plugins for various IDEs as well.
That is pretty confusing, right? I know it still makes my head spin.
Here are my general thoughts. If you are going to concentrate on Android development, use Android Studio. Great product and you will also learn the IntelliJ IDE platform which will allow you to do Java development as well. If you are wanting to go more towards Java development in general and "dabble" with Android, Eclipse IDE is a highly marketable skill with many development companies using it, further the Spring IO platform is based around Eclipse and you can do Android development using plugins for Eclipse or Spring.
As it relates to Treehouse, the Android courses will emphasize... wait for it... Android Studio (IntelliJ)! No big surprise there. I have heard that the general plan for Java courses is to ultimately be covering Spring IO (Eclipse) as there is a large demand for Spring developers. So learning either Eclipse or IntelliJ will be beneficial. At the end of the day, however, learn how to code your projects and don't get locked into the IDE, a) IDEs change, b) knowing how to code will impress more than knowing the entire menu structure of a particular IDE, c) there are plugins for IDEs that allow you to do most things "cross platform", and d) a bunch of other reasons I'm sure I'm missing.
Just my rambling thoughts. Post back with further questions.
Ken
mikes02
Courses Plus Student 16,968 PointsI believe Eclipse is just the recommended IDE. You might also want to take a look at Android Studio.
pravin kumar
30 PointsYou can also use MonoDroid to develop application in Microsoft Visual Studio IDE, NetBeans 6.9.1 + Android SDK + Kenai Android plugin.
Josh Gold
12,207 PointsJosh Gold
12,207 PointsHello Ken, Ok so Ecliipse is for more generally Java development it sounds like. For now I will stick with Android Studio.
I agree coding skill is more important than proficiency with an IDE! I am not a full time or even part time developer though. I am just and IT person wanting to learn something new, and hopefully make a little Android app to help me and others with Spanish.
Thanks for the info!
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherKen Alger
Treehouse TeacherJosh;
With regards to your first sentence, not entirely. With plugins you can do Android development in Eclipse and Spring development in IntelliJ. IntelliJ is also widely used for general Java development, it kind of depends on the company and what they have decided to utilize.
If you want to "fiddle" around with things, my recommendation is to use Android Studio for Android development and then stick with IntelliJ for your Java development.
Just my thoughts.
Ken