How do I set up an Android development environment PURELY in Vim?

I would strongly recommend you to use Vim plugin Eclim for Android development in Vim. I used it, and I found it extremely useful. Code autocomplete, refactoring and so on, is just awesome. Actually, when I started using Eclim, I got power of an IDE with my favorite editor Vim.

Also, you might want to read this publication about using Eclim for Android development.


You don't need any Vim plugins for Android development.

All you need is

  • Apache Ant for building the resulting app
  • A Java 5 compatible JDK
  • The Android SDK

Then you can use Vim to edit the AndroidManifest.xml, the layout.xmls, the Java source, the build.properties, the build.xml, and so on.


You need to know how to build an Android project by Ant.

I also use Vim to develop android project, and I have just created a Vim script for Android development. It is called adt.vim, and I am using it. I hope you will like it. http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=4330

If any suggestion, please tell me. It is still being improved.