There’s a lot to get excited about in mobile application development today. With increasingly sophisticated hardware, tablet PCs and a variety of software platforms (Symbian OS, iOS, WebOS, Windows Phone 7…), the landscape for mobile developers is full of opportunities — and a little complex as well.

So much choice can be overwhelming when you just want to get started building mobile applications. Which platform should you choose? What programming language should you learn? What kit do you need for your planned project? In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to start writing applications for Android, the open-source mobile operating system popularized by Google.