SDKs and APIs. We’ve all heard these terms thrown around in conversations, and we understand that they are used for integrations. But how exactly do they work? And which one should we pick for a more efficient integration? Let’s dive into the differences, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Application Programming Interface (API)
An API is simply an interface that allows software to interact with other software. This is part of its name — API, Application Programming Interface — and is core to its functionality. Think of an API as a rosetta stone, a tablet by which two vastly different languages, two different instruction sets, can be translated and transferred for mutual understanding.
An API is a set of instructions from one software to another. It creates a consistent and stable environment for one software to handle requests from multiple different softwares.
Computer APIs
Data is transferred from user commands into actions by using APIs. Example actions include copying text on a computer, having the data stored in ram, and ultimately pasting the text. Every step in this process may use a different API!
Web APIs
The same thing as computer APIs, but on the world wide web. With the advent of modern computing, APIs have allowed for consistent coding in stable environments, allowing for replicable functions to be delivered the same every time the request is submitted with reliability and predictability.
Software Development Kit (SDK)
SDK stands for “Software Development Kit”, which is a great way to think about it — a kit. Think about putting together a model car or plane. When constructing this model, a whole kit of items is needed, including the kit pieces themselves, the tools needed to put them together, assembly instructions, and so forth.
An SDK or devkit functions in much the same way, providing a set of tools, libraries, relevant documentation, code samples, processes, and or guides that allow developers to create software applications on a specific platform. If an API is a set of building blocks that allows for the creation of something, an SDK is a full-fledged workshop, facilitating creation far outside the scopes of what an API would allow
Sample API Code
GET graph.facebook.com
/me?
fields=albums.limit(5){name, photos.limit(2){name, picture, tags.limit(2)}},posts.limit(5)
This is using the Graph API, in which the API is used to request a user’s photo, the URL the photo generates, and all the people tagged in the photo.
Sample SDK Code
// AppDelegate.m
#import <FBSDKCoreKit/FBSDKCoreKit.h>
– (void)applicationDidBecomeActive:(UIApplication *)application {
[FBSDKAppEvents activateApp];
}
This is an example of the SDK logging basic applications.
So What’s the Difference?
- SDKs contain APIs, but APIs don’t contain SDKs. This is like how all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.
- SDKs allow for the creation of applications, whereas APIs allows for functioning across an SDKs defined parameters.
- While the API calls existent sources and functions to perform an action already defined, the SDK is used to first define this function and to create a way to call the source and function.
Sources
- https://nordicapis.com/what-is-the-difference-between-an-api-and-an-sdk/
- https://pubmatic.com/blog/cheat-sheet-sdks-what-are-they-why-do-they-matter/
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