AWS SDK for Android (Cloud Computing)

Amazon Web Services (abbreviated AWS) is a collection of remote computing services (also called web services) that together make up a cloud computing platform, offered over the Internet by Amazon.com. The most central and well-known of these services are Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3.
AWS enables you to eliminate the need for costly hardware and the administrative pain that goes along with it. AWS can reduce costs and improve cash flow, whether you are starting out or operating on a large scale.
Amazon released AWS SDK that helps you use AWS services from within Android applications. This SDK provides many AWS services like Amazon S3, Amazon SQS, Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon SNS, and DynamoDB.
download AWS SDK

The AWS SDK for Android includes:

• Class libraries. Build Android applications on top of class libraries that hide much of the lower-level plumbing of the web service interface, including authentication, request retries, and error handling. Each service has its own library, so you can include class libraries for only the services you need and keep your application as small as possible.
• Code samples. Practical examples of using the class libraries to build applications.
• Documentation. Reference documentation of AWS SDK for Android API.

Get Your Credentials:

To get your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key
1. Go to the AWS Account page ( http://aws.amazon.com/account/ ), if you don’t have AWS account click on Sign Up and register.
2. If you already have account click on Security Credentials & you are prompted to log in, do so.
3. To see your AWS Access Key ID, scroll down to Access Credentials and ensure that the Access Keys tab is selected.
4. To view your Secret Access Key, click Show.

Minimum requirements for using the AWS SDK for Android are:

• Android 2.1 (API Level 7) or higher.
• To run the code examples, you also need the Android Development Tools

How to Include the AWS SDK for Android in an Existing Application:

The samples included with the AWS SDK for Android are provided as standalone projects set up for you to try out. To use AWS with an existing application, follow these steps:
1. Create a libs directory within your Android project directory if one does not already exist.
2. Copy either a bundled JAR for all services or the specific JARs for the services you wish to use. You have 3 options:
a. Add aws-android-sdk-VERSION-debug.jar. This JAR creates the largest APK, but allows for full stack traces during development.
b. Add aws-android-sdk-VERSION.jar. This JAR creates a smaller APK and a simple bundle when releasing your application.
c. Add the aws-android-sdk-VERSION-core.jar plus the JARs for the individual services your project will use. This method creates the smallest APK, but requires a more complicated setup.
(Note, copying both bundled JARs and service JARs will cause errors.)
3. In Eclipse, go to your project, select Properties -> Java Build Path -> Libraries and click Add JARs. Then select the JARs you added to your libs directory.

References:

• For more information about the AWS SDK for Android, including a complete list of supported AWS products, go to Link.
• The SDK reference documentation includes the ability to browse and search across all code included with the SDK. It provides thorough documentation, usage examples, and even the ability to browse method source. You can find it at Link .