How do I set up an Android development environment PURELY in Vim?

Question

I was planning to try to learn Android, and I have totally no knowledge on Android development.

But Vim is my favorite editor, so I prefer Vim rather than Eclipse.

How do I set up this environment, and how do I run it (from beginning to the end)?

Currently in,

~/.vim/bundle/

I already got

- conque-shell
- nerdtree
- supertab
- command-t
- taglist
...etc.

these plugin. Are there other plugins that I should add in?

Solution 1

I would strongly recommend you to use Vim plugin Eclim for Android development in Vim. I used it, and I found it extremely useful. Code autocomplete, refactoring and so on, is just awesome. Actually, when I started using Eclim, I got power of an IDE with my favorite editor Vim.

Also, you might want to read this publication about using Eclim for Android development.

Solution 2

You don't need any Vim plugins for Android development.

All you need is

• Apache Ant for building the resulting app
• A Java 5 compatible JDK
• The Android SDK

Then you can use Vim to edit the AndroidManifest.xml, the layout.xmls, the Java source, the build.properties, the build.xml, and so on.

Solution 3

You need to know how to build an Android project by Ant.

I also use Vim to develop android project, and I have just created a Vim script for Android development. It is called adt.vim, and I am using it. I hope you will like it. http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=4330

If any suggestion, please tell me. It is still being improved.

Comments

[Js Lim]

must install eclipse first before using eclim?

[Dmitry Frank]

Well, then I can say than he doesn't need VIM for Android development. He needs Apache Ant for building the resulting app, A Java 5 compatible JDK, The Android SDK, and Notepad. Nothing wrong here. Right? But with VIM it could be much more comfortably and faster. And with special plugins like Eclim it is, again, more comfortably and faster than without plugins.

[josiah]

I liked Varga's comment as well, but I thought this touched on the spirit of the request - Lim is accustomed to Vim and would rather use that over Vi. I don't think he is using Vim in order to know the entire Android framework and not be dependent on an IDE, he just prefers it over Eclipse (and understandably so). Personally, I found Eclim to be a bit clunky/slow for me, but I never put that much effort into getting it to run smoothely, either. If it were me, I would probably just use vim without any plugins that tie to an IDE.

[Dmitry Frank]

Personally, I can't imagine efficient Java development amoung the TONS of methods and so on, without powerful, rich autocompletion. I also can't imagine efficient development without Vim. So, Eclim brought a power of IDE in the Vim for me, and this makes me feel nirvana.

[Js Lim]

Thanks. I've sent a request to you in QQ.

[EmpireJones]

@DmitryFrank - the publication link is dead. Do you have an unshorted version?

[Dmitry Frank]

@EmpireJones, I've edited my question so that non-shortened version is used as a link, but unfortunately it can't help to bring the link alive. I've checked it at archive.org/web , no luck. To be honest, I even don't remember what this publication was about, but I believe the information on eclim.org is enough, there is even some specific support of Android development (though I haven't used it yet)

[Cyker]

Could you please confirm whether this answer is still valid or not? If you haven't realized, the Android devs removed tools/android so android create project no longer works. Now I don't even know where to start. Can you start an initial project purely from vim and other command-line tools (without AndroidStudio)?

[Dmitry Frank]

No sorry, I haven't done anything in Android for a long time, so I have no idea. That said, eclim was a well-maintained project, so you could write to its mailing list to make sure.