What Is A Software Development Kit

What Is A Software Development Kit

SDK stands for software development kit or devkit. These are a set of tools and programs used by developers to create applications for specific platforms.

SDKs include a variety of things, including libraries, documentation, and code samples. They also give you access to processes and guides that can help developers successfully integrate these tools into their own apps. SDKs are for specific platforms or programming languages only: they don’t work across all devices as React Native does.

An Android SDK is needed to develop an app, while iOS requires a different one. The application needs various software development kits (SDKs) based on the target platform and services it uses. For example, integration with VMware would need another kit if being developed in PTC Creo or Siemens NX CAD systems. Similarly, Nordic’s Bluetooth/wireless products require yet other SDKs depending upon their usage scenarios.

The Characteristics of a Good SDK

As a mobile SDK is meant to be used outside an organization, it has to provide value to the other businesses and, of course, their developers. That value is dependent on your Software development kit having the following characteristics:

  • Easy to use by any developer
  • Thorough documentation in order to explain how your code works
  • Enough functionality to add value to other apps
  • It doesn’t negatively impact a mobile device’s battery, CPU, or data consumption
  • Plays well with other SDKs

When time is of the essence, as long as it gets the job done, it should be good enough. Ideally, though, a solution to this problem would work elegantly and solve everything without any problems or setbacks along the way.

What’s the difference between an SDK and an API?

The key difference between an SDK and API is that one can create a brand new application while the other cannot. An example of this would be Google’sGoogle’s Android SDK which provides developers with everything they need to build apps for their platform but doesn’t include any app-specific code or content on its own. On the other hand, Apple’sApple’s APIs only provide access to existing services like iCloud and Messages; these don’t allow you to actually make your own service from scratch.

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Gena Jones
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Gena Jones
Gena Jones ensures the work that everyone in the company is putting is of good quality and won't be compromised.