Introduction

There are many choices of IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for developing Flash platform projects for Android devices. We will focus on a few of the most popular: Adobe Flash Professional, Adobe Flash Builder, and Powerflasher FDT. This chapter will include recipes geared to getting a new Android project started in each IDE, and making the most of what is available with regard to workflow and toolsets. You will learn how to configure each environment in order to develop for the Android operating system.

Flash Builder and FDT, along with the Flex framework have the most to offer for Android development as there is a streamlined workflow, set of controls, and containers available especially for the development of mobile Android projects using Adobe AIR for Android as a development platform.

Flash Professional provides some workflow tools, but the main benefit lies in potential familiarity with the environment, and the generation of projects not tied to the Flex framework. This IDE is often used for game development because of its open nature.

For the purists or users of alternative IDEs, it is also possible to generate Android applications through a command line interface using the free AIR SDK tools.