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Encyclopedia > Driver development kit

A software development kit (SDK) is typically a set of development tools that allows a software engineer to create applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system or similar. Software engineering (SE) is the profession concerned with specifying, designing, developing and maintaining software applications by applying technologies and practices from computer science, project management, and other fields. ... Application software is a loosely defined subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Hardware is the general term that is used to describe physical artifacts of a technology. ... A computer system is an automated data-processing system that uses a programmable electronic device to store, retrieve, and process data. ... A video game console is a dedicated electronic machine designed to play video games. ... An operating system is a program required for the user to manage the system and to run third-party application software for that system. ...


It may be something as simple as an application programming interface in the form of some files to interface to a particular programming language, or include sophisticated hardware to communicate with a certain embedded system. Common tools include debugging aids such as an IDE and other utilities. SDKs also frequently include sample code and supporting technical notes or other supporting documentation to help clarify points from the primary reference material. An application programming interface (API) is the interface that a computer system, library or application provides in order to allow requests for service to be made of it by other computer programs, and/or to allow data to be exchanged between them. ... Computer code (HTML with JavaScript) in a tool that uses syntax highlighting (colors) to help the developer see the purpose of each piece of code. ... An embedded system is a special-purpose computer system, which is completely encapsulated by the device it controls. ... A programming tool is a program or application that software developers use to create, debug, or maintain other programs and applications. ... An integrated development environment (IDE), also known as integrated design environment and integrated debugging environment, is a type of computer software that assists computer programmers to develop software. ... In computing, a utility program is a computer program that is in general support of the operations and processes of a computer. ...


A software engineer typically receives the SDK from the target system developer. Often times, the SDK can be downloaded directly via the Internet. Many SDKs are provided for free to encourage developers to use the system or language. Sometimes this is used as a marketing tool. For example, Foo Products might provide the Widget SDK for free to encourage people to use it. In turn, more people will be encouraged to buy more of their widgets since they can program them for free.


SDKs may have attached licenses that make them unsuitable for building software intended to be developed under an incompatible license. For example a proprietary SDK will likely be incompatible with Free software development. And a GPL licensed SDK will likely be incompatible with proprietary software development. LGPL SDKs are typically safe for proprietary development. It has been suggested that Licensing (strategic alliance) be merged into this article or section. ... Free software, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed without restriction. ... The GNU logo For other uses of GPL, see GPL (disambiguation). ... GNU logo The GNU Lesser General Public License (formerly the GNU Library General Public License) is an FSF approved Free Software license designed as a compromise between the GNU General Public License and simple permissive licenses such as the BSD license and the MIT License. ...


An SDK for an operating system add-on (for instance, QuickTime for Mac OS) may include the add-on software itself, to be used for development purposes, if not necessarily for redistribution. An interesting situation arises here between platforms where it is possible to develop applications that can at least start up on a system configuration without the add-on installed, and use a Gestalt-style run-time environment query to determine if the add-on is present, and ones where the application will simply fail to start. In other words, is it possible to build a single binary that will run on configurations with and without the add-on present, albeit operating with reduced functionality in the latter situation. QuickTime is a multimedia technology developed by Apple Computer, capable of handling various formats of digital video, sound, text, animation, music, and immersive panoramic (and sphere panoramic) images. ... Mac OS, which stands for Macintosh Operating System, is a range of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh computers. ... Gestalt is the name of a system call introduced in System 6. ...


Providers of SDKs for specific systems or subsystems may sometimes substitute a more specific term instead of software. For instance, both Microsoft and Apple Computer provide Driver Development Kits (DDK) for developing device drivers, and PalmSource brands its development kit as PalmOS Development Kit (PDK). Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEx: 4338) is the worlds largest software corporation, with 2005 global annual sales of close to $40 billion USD and about 64,000 employees in 85 countries and regions. ... Apple Computer, Inc. ... A device driver, often called a driver for short, is a computer program that enables another program, typically an operating system (OS), to interact with a hardware device. ... Categories: Companies traded on NASDAQ | Electronics companies of the United States | Corporation stubs ...


Examples

DirectX is a collection of APIs for easily handling tasks related to game programming on the Microsoft Windows operating system. ... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEx: 4338) is the worlds largest software corporation, with 2005 global annual sales of close to $40 billion USD and about 64,000 employees in 85 countries and regions. ... The Java Development Kit (JDK) is a Sun product aimed at Java developers. ... Sun Microsystems, Inc. ... In computer programming, widget toolkits (or GUI toolkits) are sets of basic building elements for graphical user interfaces. ...

See also

List of software development kits



 
 

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