Develop Reference

Regarding Android NDK Removal

I have so many android ndks and sdks installed in my laptop and takes up space.
Because I use Android Studio I think I shouldn't uninstall the sdk but there are so many ndks.
Also, that I use Xamarin, I need one package of ndks so I thought which one should I uninstall.
And I can't see them in Programs and Features.
I'm using Windows, by the way. Any ideas?

I can't see them in Programs and Features.
The NDKs aren't "installed" like typical Windows programs. They are just extracted zip files. To remove them you just delete them from your file system.
To remove any downloaded with Android Studio, they can be removed via the SDK Manager in Android Studio. For things installed with other tools, they might have a similar solution.

You can have one installation of Android SDK/NDK and delete the rest. You can manually set the SDK and Path in the Visual Studio and Android Studio to use

How can I (Should I?) modify the Eclipse build process to build a custom android build?

I am working on a Java application that will run on an embedded system - a custom android build or modified AOSP. It is built on a linux server.
I would love to use an IDE like Eclipse with all its goodies like code completion, source code checking etc. but it seems very complicated. I looked at Puri's blog here
for one, the build process of our custom android uses Android.mk makefiles.
How can I (Should I?) modify the Eclipse build process to build the custom android build?

You can use either eclipse or studio to maintain a custom, pre-installed application.
In either case, you will not use the IDE to build the actual application image. That will be built as part of the make from the root of the AOSP install(1)
You can, however, create a project whose root is the directory in either /device or /package that contains your app.
Once you've done that, read the Android.mk file to find dependencies. Add them to the project as you would for any other project, for your chosen IDE.
If you go for eclipse, I suggest that you put the build directory somewhere in /out, or outside the AOSP directory altogether. If the root make file finds it, it can be a problem.
When you need to test your app on a device or an emulator, use mm to build only your app.
Better yet, if possible, do most of the development for your app as you would any stand-alone app, so that you can easily install and test it. Only put it in the AOSP directory as part of the release process.
Note, you can use either eclipse or studio to kick off that system
build. In eclipse, use External Tools. Studio provides similar
capabilities

What to do after google's instructions to building ADT?

I download the android source, changed the framework layer such that I added new methods to it.
I compiled the code ( using make command ), and compiled the sdk using: make sdk.
After that I followed google's instructions here here
and successfully build the zip file containing the eclipse plugins. I am lost know and dont know how to exactly continue.
My final goal is to create an android application which uses the new methods I added to the sdk.

I'm no expert in modifying the Android source itself, but if you're hoping to create an app that uses methods that you've added to the SDK, then at the very least beyond compiling the SDK and Eclipse plugins, you're going to have to:
Actually install the Eclipse plugins in Eclipse
Create a ROM for your device that uses your version of the SDK
Actually install that ROM on your device
Write and install your app

IntelliJ 12 Android Setup? Nothing works

IntelliJ 12 does not generate the needed files to start Android Development.
I've setup both JDK and SDK and intelliJ seems to see the correct paths.
I am coming from Eclipse which generates everything you need to start pretty much out of the box.
I've tried...
Double triple checking file paths.
Searching...alot of searching.
Making new files from scratch.
Making hello world program, still doesn't generate needed res folder and AndroidManifest.xml file.
Changing file path directly to AndroidManifest.xml's containing folder.

The one thing Eclipse provides that is missing from IntelliJ is and Android SDK install wizard. In other words, you would have to preinstall hte Android SDK from Google prior to starting with IntelliJ. Other than that IntelliJ actually provides more out of the box than Eclipse. (Especially considering you have to manually install the Android plugin before you get the Android SDK install wizard.) Go to the Google Android developer site to find the Android SDK and once you've done that you should be able to get up and running pretty quickly with IntelliJ. Start a new project and select Android. This should walk you through a new project wizard which will setup the necessary res and gen folders for you.
I've put together a screencast on Android development using an Eclipse stub project here: http://bit.ly/Zu6q8i

Is it possible to use the Android SDK without using eclipse?

I'd like to develop for Android but I don't really like using an IDE for programming as I find them to be pretty cumbersome compared to a text editor and command console. Is there any way I can develop for Android without doing so in Eclipse, and instead using Gedit? The system requirements specified on the Android developers site list Eclipse as a requirement, but I Ewas wondering if anyone had found a way to manually tap into the SDK libraries outside of Eclipse. I'm using a Linux setup as my development box.

You do not have to use Eclipse, it's just highly recommended because the tools are nicely integrated :
The recommended way to develop an
Android application is to use Eclipse
with the ADT plugin. The ADT plugin
provides editing, building, debugging,
and .apk packaging and signing
functionality integrated right into
the IDE.
However, if you'd rather develop your
application in another IDE, such as
IntelliJ, or in a basic editor, such
as Emacs, you can do that instead. The
SDK includes all the tools you need to
set up an Android project, build it,
debug it and then package it for
distribution. This document is your
guide to using these tools.
See this page on the Dev Guide for more info: Developing In Other IDEs

Yes you can do it with just the SDK and Ant (and the JDK of course). I'm doing it right now as an exercise in relearning Ant, and to make an 'idiot push button' procedure for a release build.
I've got to say that it's slow going just trying to configure the build process on sources that I know will compile. I'm glad that I've got Eclipse for the rapid development in the debug phase.