4

I use(d) Eclipse for Android development. Recently, i have started running into problems upgrading my environment. Now, Eclipse asks for an upgrade in ADT, but i can't upgrade my ADT plugin. I am currently unable to start new Android projects using Eclipse IDE.

On its website, Android Developer team declares that "ADT development has ended. You should migrate your app development projects to Android Studio as soon as possible."

Links for downloading newer versions of ADT (my environment had version 21, latest is 24) cant be found anymore.

Am i obliged to migrate to Android Studio?

NOTE: i have no idea why someone considers this question "opinion based". I am not asking whether or not people LIKE Eclipse or Android Studio better, but rather OBJECTIVELY whether or not i ca still develop Android projects under Eclipse.

tony gil
  • 9,424
  • 6
  • 76
  • 100
  • 2
    ADT support ended? Yes. Should migrate to Android Studio. Yes. Obliged? No. Is Eclipse dead for Android development? At least not for NDK for sure. What kind of answers are you waiting here? – Ivan Aksamentov - Drop Jan 03 '16 at 11:47
  • 2
    Trust me migrating is totally worth it. Studio is a gazillion times smarter than Eclipse. But before migrating I would also consider Intellij, especially if your project includes more than just the android module. The android Studio is built on top of Intellij, and has the latest android related features, (with intellij always being a couple of months behind), while intellij has the latest java ee features (with Android Studio being a couple of months behind). There's always a trade-off. – sakis kaliakoudas Jan 03 '16 at 11:57
  • 1
    The 'idea' behind gradle was to allow the same build env. from IDEs as from CLI, But AS requiring gradle ontop of a new editor just adds additional layers of complexity to your translation process. However, for 'simple' Android projects, the gradle conversion process works quite well. Maven based projects .... I think fail pretty badly, because it just becomes a wrapper around the mvn files, NOT a full gradle conversion. But once you learn gradle better you can just 'call' NDK's make, etc. from it... so in the END it works out for you, but it can be painful to get there at first. – mawalker Jan 03 '16 at 12:00
  • hi, your question may for someone be opinion-based, so you your post might be closed, deleted and not well received. Try to change this question to be more strict and programmaatic ;-) – piotrek1543 Jan 03 '16 at 12:00
  • 1
    Actually I don't think it is opinion based. Because it is asking if Android on Eclipse is EOL, which is a valid question. And there are 1 or 2 limited answers: yes or no, depending on if you are using NDK or not. (basically) – mawalker Jan 03 '16 at 12:02
  • 2
    @piotrek1543 its not realy opinion based if we realise that Android stopped making ADT's for eclipse, then it will completely kill the usage of Eclipse, unless you just migrate pieces of code from Eclipse to Android Studio which makes it time consuming. – Daniel Netzer Jan 03 '16 at 12:02
  • @piotrek1543 i have no idea why someone considers this question "opinion based". I am not asking whether or not people LIKE Eclipse or Android Studio better, but rather OBJECTIVELY whether or not i can still develop Android projects under Eclipse. – tony gil Jan 03 '16 at 12:08
  • @DanielNetzer Eclipse, ADT and Android itself are open-source. Nothing prevents Eclipse fans from continuing development. – Ivan Aksamentov - Drop Jan 03 '16 at 12:08
  • @Drop i currently CAN NOT start a new Android project because i canot upgrade ADT to a compatible version because its "development has ended". what is, IYHO, "opinion-based" about my question? I am not asking whether or not you LIKE ADT or AS best, i am asking OBJECTIVELY whether or not i can still develop using ADT + Eclipse (because right now, i cant). Unlock this question, please. – tony gil Jan 03 '16 at 12:11
  • @Drop i did NOT ask whether i can develop a new ADT plugin for personal use. i asked whether or not the published solution is WORKING (which it, apparently, is not). Daniel's answer pertains to the question, your comment, though helpful for a handful, is irrelevant to the question. – tony gil Jan 03 '16 at 12:14
  • I cannot unlock the question as it is voted by many other people, I just happened to be the first in that list. There is a "reopen" button for those who wish to do this. I still believe in this form your question is opinion based and unclear. You should ask about an exact problem you encounter with ADT that lead you to this discussion rather than *"Should I? Could I?... What if?.."* hypothetical type of questions. What is not working? – Ivan Aksamentov - Drop Jan 03 '16 at 12:22
  • @Drop i specifically ask if i can still develop Android projects using Eclipse or if i am obliged to migrate to Android Studio. There is absolutely NO subjective element in my question. I cant unlock, but you can click on the Reopen, cant you? I would greatly appreciate it if you fixed what you started. My question is pertinent, clear and useful. – tony gil Jan 03 '16 at 12:25
  • 2
    I will click reopen because you've asked (I believe there will be 4 more votes required). But I'm still sure this question is useless. Someone else will come and vote to close it back. Also note, that you can develop, debug, test and deploy Android applications with Notepad and Command line tools. IDE choice it's just a matter of taste and habit. This fact compromises usefulness of your question. And, of course you can develop with ADT. I did this last week and nothing has exploded. – Ivan Aksamentov - Drop Jan 03 '16 at 12:30
  • @Drop tks. I reworded the question, per your recommendation to attempt to make it as clearly objective as possible. Your environment might be stable, but mine is stuck with SDK vs 24 and ADT vs 21 (which i cannot upgrade, because it pulled from the air, no downloads are available) – tony gil Jan 03 '16 at 12:43

2 Answers2

2

you are not obliged but be aware you might not get all the proper API required to follow android updates and releases here, there is a very similar debate about IntelliJ for Android development , Best to use Android Studio or Intellij Idea wth plugins?.

I'll recommend just following androids recommendations and using Android Studio since it keeps you completely updated at any given time.

Community
  • 1
  • 1
Daniel Netzer
  • 2,151
  • 14
  • 22
  • tks for the answer. checking your links out. will get back with position regarding whether or not i managed to get the environment back to working state. – tony gil Jan 03 '16 at 11:57
-1

Android Studio is designed specifically for Android development and its main goal is to speed up the Android development process and make it easier and simpler.

Whereas, you can use Eclipse for a bunch of different programming languages and for a bunch of different platforms, but it couldn't adapt completely to the world of Android development.

So naturally, Eclipse does not do full justice to Android development.

Honestly, Eclipse was dead to me from the start. It was laggy and had plenty of problems, but obviously I had no other alternatives back then.

But Android Studio is awesome. Specially with its introduction to Gradle. Plus, its fast. I have HARDLY experienced any lags, its super direct and easy.

I dont see any reason why you should not migrate to Android Studio. Trust me, I was skeptical at first too, because I was so used to Eclipse, but the transformation was smooth and you will enjoy it too.

You can even import your Eclipse projects into Android Studio and continue working on them.

pblead26
  • 755
  • 1
  • 9
  • 30
  • 3
    `make it easier and simpler` Say this to any native game engine developer. NDK is not fully supported even in canary builds. Gradle for C++... Google never looks for simple ways. – Ivan Aksamentov - Drop Jan 03 '16 at 11:47
  • 1
    You also forgot to talk about my personal biggest pet peeve.. the inability to (easily, because you 'can', but you have to 'force it to work') make Java applications within the editor. That was one of the nicest things in Eclipse, just making a test project quickly to 'test' code/logic, etc. Android Studio is 'alright', but it has its pros/cons. – mawalker Jan 03 '16 at 11:56
  • i get your point re being a specific environment exclusively developed for Android. Will test migration and get back to you. tks for taking the time to answer my question. – tony gil Jan 03 '16 at 12:04