The welcome screen is displayed any time that Android Studio is running
with no projects currently open (open projects can be closed at any time by selecting the
File -> Close Project menu option). If Android Studio was previously exited while a
project was still open, the tool will by-pass the welcome screen next time it is launched,
automatically opening the previously active project.
In addition to a list of recent projects, the Quick Start menu provides a range of options for
performing tasks such as opening, creating and importing projects along with access to
projects currently under version control. In addition, the Configure option provides access
to the SDK Manager along with a vast array of settings and configuration options. A
review of these options will quickly reveal that there is almost no aspect of Android
Studio that cannot be configured and tailored to your specific needs.
Finally, the status bar along the bottom edge of the window provides information about the
version of Android Studio currently running, along with a link to check if updates are
available for download.
The Main Window
When a new project is created, or an existing one opened, the Android Studio main
window will appear. When multiple projects are open simultaneously, each will be
assigned its own main window. The precise configuration of the window will vary
depending on which tools and panels were displayed the last time the project was open,
but will typically resemble that of Figure.
The various elements of the main window can be summarized as follows:
A – Menu Bar – Contains a range of menus for performing tasks within the Android
Studio environment.
B – Toolbar – A selection of shortcuts to frequently performed actions. The toolbar
buttons provide quicker access to a select group of menu bar actions. The toolbar can be
customized by right-clicking on the bar and selecting the Customize Menus and
Toolbars… menu option.
C – Navigation Bar – The navigation bar provides a convenient way to move around the
files and folders that make up the project. Clicking on an element in the navigation bar
will drop down a menu listing the sub folders and files at that location ready for selection.
This provides an alternative to the Project tool window.
D – Editor Window – The editor window displays the content of the file on which the
developer is currently working. What gets displayed in this location, however, is subject to
context. When editing code, for example, the code editor will appear. When working on a
user interface layout file, on the other hand, the user interface Designer tool will appear.
When multiple files are open, each file is represented by a tab located along the top edge
of the editor as shown in Figure.
E – Status Bar – The status bar displays informational messages about the project and the
activities of Android Studio together with the tools menu button located in the far left
corner. Hovering over items in the status bar will provide a description of that field. Many
fields are interactive, allowing the user to click to perform tasks or obtain more detailed
status information.
F – Project Tool Window – The project tool window provides a hierarchical overview of
the project file structure allowing navigation to specific files and folders to be performed.
The drop-down menu in the toolbar can be used to display the project in a number of
different ways. The default setting is the Android view which is the mode primarily used
in the remainder of this book.
The project tool window is just one of a number of tool windows available within the
Android Studio environment.
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