Set JAVA_HOME in Windows 7

A common hassle whenever you get a new laptop or PC is setting up the java environment variables so that when you install Eclipse or Netbeans you are ready to go. For your, and my own future reference, this is how it is done (on Windows 7 at least).

1. Find out where you have installed the JDK, or install it from here:

e.g. C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_04

2. Press the Windows button and type in "Environment Variables" and press enter.

This will open the following window:

3. Under System Variables, click "New..." and enter JAVA_HOME for the variable name, and the path to your jdk for your variable value:

4. Press OK.

5. Select the variable "Path" and choose to Edit this, and add the following at the end of the string:

%JAVA_HOME%\bin; 

6. Press OK, and then OK to the main dialog. You will now have your Java environment variables set up correctly.

That should be it - if I've missed anything out or you have any problems let me know!

Android - Could not find HelloWorld.apk! - fix

So my first experience of Android development left me frustrated after getting an error trying to launch the  simple Hello World example!

Simple fix - basically when I set up eclipse I forgot to set the JAVA_HOME path variable.

The symptoms are this in the console:

[2011-12-12 22:37:05 - RoryHelloWorld] Android Launch!

[2011-12-12 22:37:05 - RoryHelloWorld] adb is running normally.

[2011-12-12 22:37:05 - RoryHelloWorld] Could not find RoryHelloWorld.apk!

The fix is simple. Open up your machines environment variables (in Vista it's Control Panel -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Environment Variables).

In System Variables add a new variable JAVA_HOME set to where your JDK is installed, e.g.

JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_12\

Then add JAVA_HOME to your Path variable. I added:

%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%PATH%; to the end of mine. 

Restart eclipse for the changes to take effect, then the next time you run your app it should work!