2. An IDE

Its all visual now.

The SDK certainly doesn't mandate any particular IDE, in fact it goes out of its way to show you how to develop Android apps without one. This isn't just for diehard console jockeys by the way; as your projects get bigger and more complex, automated build and test tools become more necessary. However, for the majority of Android developers an IDE is pretty much essential.

Now for some flamebait - which one? Eclipse is the one which seems to have the largest number of users, and if you read between the lines and watch the Google training videos you'll get the impression it's the favoured one by them too, but I'm sure that's something they will remain impartial about. The point here is you need one, and if you are familiar with any of the biggies you'll find it will work the way you are used to anyway. Here are the main contenders:

• Eclipse
• Netbeans
• IntelliJ Idea

The current version of Idea is commercial, but the older ones are free and they recently announced a free edition is forthcoming - check here for more info.