Programmers love when the user likes their work. But they love more when non-professionals continue their work, adding to their seemingly finished product part of their ideas. Then the miracle of creative and engineering thought becomes even more beautiful. But so that a simple user can join the great, programmers again go to work and release tool kits. And give these utilities a name - SDK. What it is will be described in the article.
Briefly about the main thing
A short abbreviation contains long words - Software Development Kit (or a set of developer programs). Many people think that any software development program can be called an SDK, for example, it is a Pascal or Delphi compiler. However, just as a book cannot be judged by its cover, so is a product by its name. SDK is a set that extends the functionality of a program, game, product complex, it makes it possible to create your own program, level or addition, but only using the best practices of the original.
Three whales SDK
The SDK most often contains three main components. The most important is the program itself or a set of libraries that allow you to develop a new product based on an existing one.
The second part is the documentation. Moreover, everything is described in it briefly, concisely and simply. It includes Tutorial (step-by-step tutorials in the style of “Creating the World in Six Easy Steps”) and Reference - a section provided as a guide on what can be done using the SDK.
The third piece of the mosaic is the favorite among those who often use the product - ready-made examples. And almost always they cover all the features of the developer kit. Due to their presence, you can often skip any Reference without trying to delve into the software environment. Samples quickly introduce the user to what can be created in the provided software package.
There are people who are too lazy to read even a short tutorial. And this is not required! Take an example, edit it, adjust to your criteria - and the new program component is ready.
From simple to complex
After all of the above, the reader may ask: "SDK - what is it? A set of programs that are not of interest to a real developer and are only needed by users for petty mischief?" We answer: all SDKs can be conditionally divided into two groups.
The first should include kits for creating independent games and programs. The best example would be DirectX, without which no Windows PC can run today. However, simple users are provided with only the working components necessary to run applications created using this SDK. For programmers, Microsoft provides a free DirectX SDK, which is a component of a more powerful product - the Windows SDK. It contains all the files that are needed to write a new application or computer game: SI ++ libraries, compilers, multi-page documentation.
Similar solutions include the Android SDK, a software package designed to develop applications for smartphones. In this case, you do not need to delve into the intricacies of the accelerometer or sensor, the functions are already added to the kit.
The second group of SDKs is more interesting. These are not OS components, but huge self-contained tools. For example, they can include Torque or Unity - full-fledged game engines that include support for the most advanced technologies. However, such solutions differ in that with the tools included in the delivery, you can create a wonderful game or program without studying programming too deeply - it will be enough to master the basics. Very often, such products use their own scripting languages with simplified functions.
The latest version is not always the best
Usually the SDK, which is just off the assembly line, contains not only new toolkits, but also a large number of errors and bugs. So, for example, the latest release of the Java SDK has eight in the name. However, many are in no hurry to update their software. They remain true to version 7 SDK.
So that catching bugs and fixing bugs is the easiest, developers create a website where the community is comfortably located - an association of developers and users of the SDK. Different companies organize communication in different ways, but often a forum is located on the site. Users and programmers share on it information about shortcomings found, discuss the intricacies of working in the SDK, consult and ask questions to technical support staff.
Free cheese only in a mousetrap?
It happens that developers create a newsletter in which they inform everyone who wishes about the development of their tools and new versions. On the forum you can almost always find a thread with detailed documentation, which is constantly updated and supplemented. Add to this the articles of the SDK authors, their communication with ordinary members of the community and the round-the-clock work of technical support staff, and it will immediately become clear that the community is not a community of free SDK testers, that this is an attempt to make the product better and better.