Automating ActionScript Projects with Eclipse and Ant

Chapter 1. Tools

In every construction project, the foundation is the most important part; without it, the whole building comes tumbling down. So, before we can do anything, we need to have the right tools to lay our foundation.

Although all the tools we will use are available on most platforms, I use Mac OS X throughout this book. For Windows users, the process is almost the same, although UI buttons and menus might be located elsewhere. I’m not biased in any way; an OS is a tool in your toolbox, and it should be treated as such.

Note

If you already have Eclipse, FDT, and the Android SDK installed, you can skip to Chapter 2. However, even if you already know this material or have these tools installed, you’ll likely find some valuable tips and lessons in this chapter. I highly recommend that you at least browse through it.

Eclipse

Since the examples in this book revolve around the Eclipse IDE, we will start by downloading it from the following location: http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/.

Note

The current version of Eclipse at the time of this writing is Indigo.

You are presented with a number of choices; pick “Eclipse IDE for Java Developers.” It is one of the smallest options in file size, and it already includes a CVS client, an XML editor, and the Mylyn plug-in. We will talk more about plug-ins later; for now, just unpack the downloaded package to run the Eclipse application.

Workspaces and Perspectives

When you open Eclipse after the splash screen, you are presented with a ...