Beware: Android Studio ain't all you need

New dev VM, new client, new Android app to build.  Clean O/S install, so I'll just grab Android Studio beta and I'll have everything I need, right?

Would that it were so simple!

The Android Studio download page sure doesn't make it clear that it's just one of many parts to the full picture, and Google searching reveals little.

Most people, it seems, have installed Android Studio after installing the more traditional Eclipse+SDK combination, and in that context, Android Studio works very well.

But on a new machine, if you just install Android Studio, and try to run it, you get an error message stating that no JRE can be found.  Hmph.  Not all-in-one.  Fair enough, but they could've made a note of it in the download page.

So I download & install the Java JDK+JRE, and now Android Studio starts up & looks beautiful.  Yay!  Until I try to create a new project.  Then it complains that the Android SDK isn't found.

Again Google, I'm fine with you not making the Android Studio installer an all-in-one, but could you at least have made it obvious?  Mention on the Android Studio download page that you'll also need to install the Java JRE and the Android SDK!  Then we won't feel somewhat frustrated by having to waste time figuring how to do what was obvious to you, but not necessarily immediately obvious to every one of us.

And this is the general rule, all we developers can learn from, and a rule I see broken over and over again in computer systems of all shapes and sizes : a cumbersome user experience is ok, IF you explain the steps to the user!  But if you have a cumbersome process and DON'T explain the steps to the user, some users will give up, and most users will be frustrated even if they finally figure it out.  And Android Studio is far from the most egregious example.

So my advice?  New dev box, and you want minimal digital clutter but you also want to keep the installation process simple?  Install Java JDK, then install Android SDK+Eclipse bundle, then follow the Android SDK installation page notes about downloading the latest SDK updates, and finally install the Android Studio.  Certainly, Microsoft Visual Studio installation is very polished and absolutely shines in contrast, but hey, we do finally arrive at a working Android Studio, and whilst it did waste time and mental effort, we're there, so I'm moving on, and leaving this "here be dragons" for all ye subsequent travelers.

Tschus!