Run AVD

The first thing you should know when looking at your new Android project is that it's okay to be a little overwhelmed. Android is overwhelming, and even experienced developers do not interact with all of the features it offers. The first of a few discrete things we're going to be focusing on in this lesson is the Project Tab, here: 

This is your directory, more or less, where you'll be able to see your project's file structure. By double clicking, you'll open up individual files in the editor in a new tab on the right.

There's a couple things to keep in mind right out of the gate. Gradle is a build system which will help configure your project and allows you customization from outside plugins and libraries when you're ready to get fancy. But for now, just know that your project files are on the left, your editor on the right. 

To start up the Android Studio emulator, so that you can get a sense of what your app looks like on an Android device, you can go to the top of the toolbar and hit the green play button or press 'Command R.'  

The 'Run App' command will take you through the process of creating a virtual device. You can then choose both the device and operating system its running. Once your OS has installed and you've double checked to make sure you're satisfied with the options on your Android Virtual Device, or AVD, you'll be able to save your device and access via the Virtual Device Manager. You can get to it via the 'Tools', and then the Android tab. 

Once the emulator loads, you'll be able to see how the actual app corresponds side by side with your project. 

Onwards!