**Course Title:** Kotlin Programming: From Basics to Advanced Techniques **Section Title:** Kotlin for Android Development **Topic:** Setting up an Android project using Kotlin Welcome to this topic, where you'll learn how to set up an Android project using Kotlin. By the end of this topic, you'll be able to create a new Android project, understand the basic directory structure, and configure the necessary dependencies. ### Creating a New Android Project To start, open Android Studio and follow these steps: 1. Choose **Start a new Android Studio project** from the start-up page. 2. Select **Empty Activity** as the project template. 3. Choose a location for your project, and give it a name (e.g., `KotlinAndroidProject`). 4. Set the language to **Kotlin** and the minimum SDK to **21** (or higher). 5. Click **Finish** to create the project. ### Understanding the Directory Structure After creating the project, you'll see the following directory structure: ```bash KotlinAndroidProject androidTest debug main java kotlin AndroidManifest.xml res drawable layout menu values build.gradle ... ``` Let's explore the key directories and files: * `androidTest`: Contains test files for your Android app. * `main/java` and `main/kotlin`: Contains your app's source code. * `res`: Contains your app's resources, such as layouts, drawables, and values. * `build.gradle`: The Gradle build file for your project. ### Configuring Dependencies To use Kotlin in your Android project, you need to add the Kotlin standard library as a dependency. 1. Open the `build.gradle` file in the root directory of your project. 2. Add the following code to the `dependencies` block: ```groovy dependencies { implementation 'androidx.core:core-ktx:1.9.0' implementation 'org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk8:1.8.20' } ``` Here, we've added the Kotlin standard library (`org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk8`) and the AndroidX Core KTX library (`androidx.core:core-ktx`). ### Adding the Kotlin Android Extensions The Kotlin Android Extensions plugin allows you to use Kotlin extensions for Android API. To use it, add the following code to your `build.gradle` file: ```groovy plugins { id 'com.android.application' id 'kotlin-android' id 'kotlin-android-extensions' } ``` This plugin enables the use of Kotlin Android Extensions in your project. ### Creating a Kotlin Activity To create a new Kotlin Activity, right-click on the `kotlin` directory in your project and select **New** > **Kotlin Class/File**. Name the file `MainActivity.kt` and add the following code: ```kotlin import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity import android.os.Bundle class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() { override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) setContentView(R.layout.activity_main) } } ``` This is a basic Kotlin Activity that uses the `AppCompatActivity` class. ### Summary In this topic, you've learned how to: * Create a new Android project using Kotlin * Understand the basic directory structure of an Android project * Configure the necessary dependencies for a Kotlin Android project * Add the Kotlin Android Extensions plugin * Create a new Kotlin Activity Now that you've set up an Android project using Kotlin, you're ready to explore the next topic: **Understanding Activities, Fragments, and Views**. If you have any questions or need help with this topic, feel free to ask in the comments below. External links: * [Android Studio](https://developer.android.com/studio) * [Kotlin Android Extensions](https://kotlinlang.org/docs/tutorials/android-plugin.html) * [Gradle Build System](https://developer.android.com/studio/build)