What Does Android SDK Mean?
The Android SDK (software development kit) is a set of development tools used to develop applications for the Android platform that has become Apple’s biggest rival in the smartphone space. The Android SDK includes the following:
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Required libraries.
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Debugger.
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An emulator.
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Relevant documentation for the Android application program interfaces (APIs).
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Sample source code.
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Tutorials for the Android OS.
Techopedia Explains Android SDK
Every time Google releases a new version of Android, a corresponding SDK is also released. To be able to write programs with the latest features, developers must download and install each version’s SDK for the particular phone. The SDK essentially represents Android’s delivered toolkit for a specific version and technology of its operating systems.
The development platforms that are compatible with SDK include operating systems like Windows (XP or later), Linux (any recent Linux distribution) and Mac OS X (10.4.9 or later). The components of Android SDK can be downloaded separately. Third-party add-ons are also available for download.
Although the SDK can be used to write Android programs in the command prompt, the most common method is by using an integrated development environment (IDE). The recommended IDE is Eclipse with the Android Development Tools (ADT) plug-in. However, other IDEs, such as NetBeans or IntelliJ, will also work.
Most of these IDEs provide a graphical interface enabling developers to perform development tasks faster. Since Android applications are written in Java code, a user should have the Java Development Kit (JDK) installed.
In addition, experts sometimes talk about optimizing the use of SDKs for Android, for instance, using targeted versioning to eliminate the need for additional wrapped API calls, or may refer to SDK targeting as “value-added to an Android manifest” that can help with OS implementations, many recommending setting a target version and a minimum version in the manifest.
Other related resources include tips for optimized installation and the use of the Android SDK Manager.
IDEs and Android SDK
Another way to understand the utility of the IDE and why it may be favored over simple SDK use is to think about the ways that IDs abstract and facilitate the process of development.
One thing that the IDEs do, as implied above, is consolidate various tools into one single environment. For example, if an IDE provides functionality for a text editor, compiler and debugger altogether, (where each of those things would be treated separately in dealing with an SDK,) that offers evident benefits for the developer.
Experts also explain how IDEs, for example, Netbeans, create graphical user interface or more user-friendly versions of development environments that would be considered more manually or basically implemented in SDKs.
A good analogy might be the use of HTML to code webpages contrasted with the emergence of many platforms, (early ones including Dreamweaver, for example,) that provided GUIs over the HTML environment for implementation.
By abstracting the underlying tasks in this way, the GUIs make the tasks more accessible to a wider set of users, and can help to save time and effort. The IDE does this for the Android developer, although some argue that too many shortcuts compromises the core knowledge that the developer needs to be confident in a variety of environments.
