Changes

These commands are used a lot in the real world. While developing a simple test app you may not need them - they are critical when used together with automated deployment systems and various development/QA setups.

This command works with the SDK Manager and the AVD Manager. Note that even though later you'll be doing all of your work from Android Studio - the SDKs and AVDs are separate from it and can be used also with Eclipse or with just the command-line.

This application lets you download and delete parts of the Android development system. Specifically if you want to develop against a specific API (e.g. API 10 which is Android 2.3.3) you can download the development libraries and emulator images from that version.

Theoretically newer versions of the libraries can be used to develop against older APIs but that will give you more trouble than benefits.

This application will let you create, modify, and start AVDs. These are virtual machines, the same idea as a desktop virtual machine, but specialized for phones. You can create an AVD of any Android version, and choose various hardware configurations for your virtual machine.

You can also use the "android" command to create new projects (instead of doing it all manually as you have in the last lab).

<pre>android help</pre>

This command will let you run virtual machines you've created with the AVD Manager. For example:

Remember these commands exist so you can do things (like testing) automatically. The emulator command has many options that you don't need to be concerned with. Now that you know this command exists and the type of options it has - you'll be able to find parameters you need when you need them.

Probably the most commonly used command. Here are the options I feel are the most important from "adb help":