Have you ever wanted to develop mobile apps using web technologies i.e HTML, CSS and Javascript? In fact, you might have tried but failed along the way after failing to set up your computer for the task. It has happened to many others simply because coding and setting up developer environments are two different games which require different skills.
In this post I have listing what you require and briefly suggest what you have to do to have each tool installed on your Windows computer. Though guideline is eccentric to Windows Operating Systems, it’s transferable to Mac OS and Linux.
Let’s get started!

• NODE.JS

Get Node.js

Install Node.js and add it to PATH environment variable ). Confirm installation by running $node –version at command line. I prefer using Windows shell instead of CMD. Because Windows shell executes some linux commands such as $ls.

• GIT

Install Git with default settings.

• CORDOVA

Installation

In Git Bash or Windows Shell execute the command below

$npm install -g cordava

Confirm installation by running

$cordova –version

• JAVA

  • Install Java Development Kit (JDK). From Oracle’s website download the Java Standard Edition (Java SE). Add the JDK’s installation path to the PATH environment variables. Usually the location is c:\Program Files\Java\jdk version\bin. Create a JAVA_HOME if it doesn’t exist, setting it’s value to c:\Program Files\Java\jdk version To confirm if all is well run javac -version.

• APACHE ANT

  • Install Apache ANT. (This is the build system for Java). I kept on failing until I discovered this was the missing piece in the puzzle. Search for it on google, download the zip file and unzip it whenever you want, noting the location. Proceed by adding the Apache ANT bin directory e.g c:\apache-ant\bin to the PATH environment variable and creating a ANT_HOME variable to which you assign the Apache ANT directory. e.g. c:\apache-ant. Now in Git Bash or command line tool of your choice run $ant -version

• ANDROID

  • Download and Install Android SDK by downloading Android Studio. Before we could install the Android SDK alone but it seems impossible now a days, maybe you or I should do more research about this. Add the Android SDK tools and the Android Platform tools to the path variable. Usually these are located at the SDK installation directory\tools and SDK installation directory\platform-tools.
  • Launch the SDK manager by running the command $android use may use it for downloading additional sdk, platform tools etc.

• TEST ENVIRONMENT

  •  In command line of your choice. Run $adb -version.

Navigate to a directory of your choice and issue the cordava app creation command. i.e $cordova create app_directory com.domain.app AppTitle

• • Add android platforms to your app. At command line change directory to app_directory by running.
    • $cd app_directory
    • $cordova platform add android
  • Connect your phone will developer options and usb debugging are turned on.
    • $cordova run android.
  • If phone does work for some reason you can try to install Universal Adb drivers or view your apps in the browser by running $cordova run browser.

Conclusion.

Knowing how to code is a good task, setting up the developer environment is another thing.