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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 An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
combination. To create applications with advanced functionalities such as advertisements, push notifications, etc; most application software developers use specific software development kits. Some SDKs are required for developing a platform-specific app. For example, the development of an Android app on the
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
platform requires a Java Development Kit. For iOS applications (apps) the
iOS SDK The iOS SDK (iOS Software Development Kit), 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 iOS SDK is a f ...
is 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 Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
,
Smaato Smaato is a digital ad tech platform and ad server. Smaato's self-serve omnichannel monetization solution gives publishers the ability to manage their entire ad stack in one place. Ad monetization technology lets publishers keep their content free ...
,
InMobi InMobi is an Indian multinational mobile advertising technology company, based in Bengaluru. Its mobile-first platform allows brands, developers and publishers to engage consumers through contextual mobile advertising. The company was founde ...
, and
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
.


Details

An SDK can take the form of
application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
s (APIs) in the form of on-device libraries of reusable functions used to interface to a particular
programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming ...
, or it may be as complex as hardware-specific tools that can communicate with a particular
embedded system An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded ...
. Common tools include debugging facilities and other utilities, often presented in an
integrated development environment An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools ...
(IDE). SDKs may include sample software and/or technical notes along with documentation, and tutorials to help clarify points made by the primary reference material. 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 Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, n ...
development, while a GPL-licensed SDK could be incompatible with proprietary software development, for legal reasons. However, SDKs built under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) are typically usable for proprietary development. In cases where the underlying technology is new, SDKs may include hardware. For example,
AirTag AirTag is a tracking device developed by Apple. AirTag is designed to act as a key finder, which helps people find personal objects (e.g. keys, bags, apparel, small electronic devices, vehicles). To locate lost items, AirTags use Apple's crowd ...
's 2021 NFC SDK included both the paying and the reading halves of the necessary hardware stack. The average Android mobile app implements 15.6 separate SDKs, with gaming apps implementing on average 17.5 different SDKs. The most popular SDK categories for Android mobile apps are analytics and advertising. 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. 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 Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
and Citrix provide a driver development kit (DDK) for developing device drivers.


Examples

Examples of software development kits for various platforms include: * AmigaOS NDK *
Android NDK Code written in C/C++ can be compiled to ARM, or x86 native code (or their 64-bit variants) using the Android Native Development Kit (NDK). The NDK uses the Clang compiler to compile C/C++. GCC was included until NDK r17, but removed in r18 in 2 ...
*
iOS SDK The iOS SDK (iOS Software Development Kit), 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 iOS SDK is a f ...
* Java Development Kit * Java Web Services Development Pack * Microsoft Windows SDK *
VaxTele SIP Server SDK VaxTele SIP Server SDK (Software Development Kit) is a complete development toolkit, which allows software vendors and Internet telephony service providers (ITSP) to develop SIP Server and (SIP) Session Initiation Protocol based VoIP systems for Mic ...
*
Visage SDK Visage may refer to: *A synonym of face * Visage Mobile, an American software as a service company * Visage, Georgia, a community in the United States * ''Visage'' (film), also known as ''Face'', a 2009 French film * ''Visage'' (video game), a sur ...
*
Vuforia Augmented Reality SDK Vuforia is an augmented reality software development kit (SDK) for mobile devices that enables the creation of augmented reality applications. It uses computer vision technology to recognize and track planar images and 3D objects in real time. This ...
*
Windows App SDK Windows App SDK (formerly known as Project Reunion) is a software development kit (SDK) from Microsoft that targets the development of native desktop applications on Windows 11 and Windows 10 back to version 1809. Windows App SDK does not replac ...
* Xbox Development Kit


See also

*
Application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
*
Game development kit Game development kits (GDK) are specialized hardware and software used to create commercial video games for game consoles. They may be partnered with game development tools, special game engine licenses, and other middleware to aid video game deve ...
* Widget toolkit (or GUI toolkit)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Software Development Kit Computer libraries Software development