Software development kit

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A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific to a hardware platform and operating system combination. To create applications with advanced functionalities such as advertisements, push notifications, etc; most application software developers use specific software development kits.

Contents

Some SDKs are required for developing a platform-specific app. For example, the development of an Android app on the Java platform requires a Java Development Kit. For iOS applications (apps) theis required. For Universal Windows Platform the .NET Framework SDK might be used. There are also SDKs that add additional features and can be installed in apps to provide analytics, data about application activity, and monetization options. Some prominent creators of these types of SDKs include Google, Smaato, InMobi, and Facebook.

Details

An SDK can take the form of application programming interfaces (APIs) [1] in the form of on-device libraries of reusable functions used to interface to a particular programming language, or it may be as complex as hardware-specific tools that can communicate with a particular embedded system. [2] Common tools include debugging facilities and other utilities, often presented in an integrated development environment (IDE). [3] SDKs may include sample software and/or technical notes along with documentation, and tutorials to help clarify points made by the primary reference material. [4] [5]

SDKs often include licenses that make them unsuitable for building software intended to be developed under an incompatible license. For example, a proprietary SDK is generally incompatible with free software development, while a GPL-licensed SDK could be incompatible with proprietary software development, for legal reasons. [6] [7] However, SDKs built under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) are typically usable for proprietary development. [8] In cases where the underlying technology is new, SDKs may include hardware. For example, AirTag's 2021 NFC SDK included both the paying and the reading halves of the necessary hardware stack. [9]

The average Android mobile app implements 15.6 separate SDKs, with gaming apps implementing on average 17.5 different SDKs. [10] The most popular SDK categories for Android mobile apps are analytics and advertising. [10]

SDKs can be unsafe (because they are implemented within apps yet run separate code). Malicious SDKs (with honest intentions or not) can violate users' data privacy, damage app performance, or even cause apps to be banned from Google Play or the App Store. [11] New technologies allow app developers to control and monitor client SDKs in real time.

Providers of SDKs for specific systems or subsystems sometimes substitute a more specific term instead of software. For instance, both Microsoft [12] and Citrix [13] provide a driver development kit (DDK) for developing device drivers.

Examples

Examples of software development kits for various platforms include:

See also

Related Research Articles

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In computing, cross-platform software is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software requires a separate build for each platform, but some can be directly run on any platform without special preparation, being written in an interpreted language or compiled to portable bytecode for which the interpreters or run-time packages are common or standard components of all supported platforms.

Microsoft Windows SDK, and its predecessors Platform SDK, and .NET Framework SDK, are software development kits (SDKs) from Microsoft that contain documentation, header files, libraries, samples and tools required to develop applications for Microsoft Windows and .NET Framework. Platform SDK specializes in developing applications for Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003. .NET Framework SDK is dedicated to developing applications for .NET Framework 1.1 and .NET Framework 2.0. Windows SDK is the successor of the two and supports developing applications for Windows XP and later, as well as .NET Framework 3.0 and later.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe AIR</span> Cross-platform runtime system for building rich web applications

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iOS SDK Software development kit for iOS

The iOS SDK, formerly the iPhone SDK, is a software development kit (SDK) developed by Apple Inc. The kit allows for the development of mobile apps on Apple's iOS and iPadOS operating systems.

The Android SDK is a software development kit for the Android software ecosystem that includes a comprehensive set of development tools. These include a debugger, libraries, a handset emulator based on QEMU, documentation, sample code, and tutorials. The SDK is part of the official Android Studio IDE but its various tools and resources can be used independently.

The Android Package with the file extension apk is the file format used by the Android operating system, and a number of other Android-based operating systems for distribution and installation of mobile apps, mobile games and middleware. A file using this format can be built from source code written in either Java or Kotlin.

Apache Cordova is a mobile application development framework created by Nitobi. Adobe Systems purchased Nitobi in 2011, rebranded it as PhoneGap, and later released an open-source version of the software called Apache Cordova. Apache Cordova enables software programmers to build hybrid web applications for mobile devices using CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript, instead of relying on platform-specific APIs like those in Android, iOS, or Windows Phone. It enables the wrapping up of CSS, HTML, and JavaScript code depending on the platform of the device. It extends the features of HTML and JavaScript to work with the device. The resulting applications are hybrid, meaning that they are neither truly native mobile application nor purely Web-based. They are not native because all layout rendering is done via Web views instead of the platform's native UI framework. They are not Web apps because they are packaged as apps for distribution and have access to native device APIs. Mixing native and hybrid code snippets has been possible since version 1.9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MoSync</span>

MoSync is a discontinued free and open-source software development kit (SDK) for mobile applications. It is integrated with the Eclipse development environment. The framework produces native mobile applications for multiple platforms using C/C++, HTML5 scripting and any combination thereof. The target group for MoSync are both web developers looking to enter the mobile space, as well as the ordinary PC/Mac desktop developer with knowledge in C/C++ development.

Titanium SDK is an open-source framework that allows the creation of native mobile applications on platforms iOS and Android from a single JavaScript codebase. It is presently developed by non-profit software foundation TiDev, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symbian</span> Discontinued mobile operating system

Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian OS is a descendant of Psion's EPOC, and was released exclusively on ARM processors, although an unreleased x86 port existed. Symbian was used by many major mobile phone brands, like Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and above all by Nokia. It was also prevalent in Japan by brands including Fujitsu, Sharp and Mitsubishi. As a pioneer that established the smartphone industry, it was the most popular smartphone OS on a worldwide average until the end of 2010, at a time when smartphones were in limited use, when it was overtaken by iOS and Android. It was notably less popular in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Android software development</span> Process of writing software for Android operating system

Android software development is the process by which applications are created for devices running the Android operating system. Google states that "Android apps can be written using Kotlin, Java, and C++ languages" using the Android software development kit (SDK), while using other languages is also possible. All non-Java virtual machine (JVM) languages, such as Go, JavaScript, C, C++ or assembly, need the help of JVM language code, that may be supplied by tools, likely with restricted API support. Some programming languages and tools allow cross-platform app support. Third party tools, development environments, and language support have also continued to evolve and expand since the initial SDK was released in 2008. The official Android app distribution mechanism to end users is Google Play; it also allows staged gradual app release, as well as distribution of pre-release app versions to testers.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mono (software)</span> Computer software project

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Universal Windows Platform (UWP) is a computing platform created by Microsoft and introduced in Windows 10. The purpose of this platform is to help develop universal apps that run on Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile (discontinued), Windows 11, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and HoloLens without the need to be rewritten for each. It supports Windows app development using C++, C#, VB.NET, and XAML. The API is implemented in C++, and supported in C++, VB.NET, C#, F# and JavaScript. Designed as an extension to the Windows Runtime (WinRT) platform introduced in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8, UWP allows developers to create apps that will potentially run on multiple types of devices.

Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google. It is used to develop cross platform applications from a single codebase for any web browser, Fuchsia, Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. First described in 2015, Flutter was released in May 2017.

References

  1. ↑ Sandoval, K. (2 June 2016). "What is the Difference Between an API and an SDK?". Nordic APIs Blog. Nordic APIs AB. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Benso, A.; Chiusano, S.; Prinetto, P. (2000). "A software development kit for dependable applications in embedded systems". Proceedings International Test Conference 2000 (IEEE Cat. No.00CH37159). pp. 170–8. doi:10.1109/TEST.2000.894204. ISBN   0-7803-6546-1. S2CID   206679243.
  3. ↑ Burd, B. (2015). Android Application Development All-in-One For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 31. ISBN   9781118973806.
  4. ↑ Asif, S.Z. (2011). Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem: Technology Management for Mobile Communications. John Wiley & Sons. p. PT384. ISBN   9781119995814.
  5. ↑ Withee, K. (2011). SharePoint 2010 Development For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. PT346. ISBN   9781118038628.
  6. ↑ Vaughan-Nichols, S.J. (4 January 2013). "No, Google is not making the Android SDK proprietary. What's the fuss about?". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  7. ↑ Orland, K. (20 July 2017). "Sony's legal quest to remove its leaked developer's kit from the Web". ArsTechnica. Condé Nast. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  8. ↑ Davidson, S.J. (2004). "A Primer on Open Source Software for Business People and Lawyers". Leonard, Street and Deinard. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Airtag releasing NFC mobile payments developer kit, wishes Apple would help simplify the ecosystem". 16 October 2012.
  10. 1 2 Shoavi, Orly. "The All-Star Winners of Mobile App Tools (SDKs)". SafeDK.
  11. ↑ Perez, Sarah (19 October 2015). "Hundreds Of Apps Banned From App Store For Accessing Users' Personal Information". TechCrunch.
  12. ↑ "Windows Driver Kit documentation". Hardware Dev Center. Microsoft. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  13. ↑ "Driver Development Kit - For XenServer 6.2.0 Service Pack 1 with Hotfix XS62ESP1062". Citrix Systems, Inc. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
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