Difference between framework vs Library vs IDE vs API vs SDK vs Toolkits

Question

I want some examples  I always get confused  so with some examples I might be able to figure it out better   Also  Is Eclipse an API or IDE

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Consider Android Development   IDE  Eclipse etc    Library  android app Activity library  Class with all code   API  Interface basically all functions with which we call   SDK  The Android SDK provides you the API libraries and developer tools necessary to build  test  and debug apps for Android  ----tools - DDMS Emulator ----platforms - Android OS versions  ----platform-tools - ADB  ----API docs   ToolKit  Could be ADT Bundle  Framework  Big library but more of architecture-oriented

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SDK represents to software development kit  and IDE represents to integrated development environment   The IDE is the software or the program is used to write  compile  run  and debug such as Xcode   The SDK is the underlying engine of the IDE  includes all the platform s libraries an app needs to access  It s more basic than an IDE because it doesn t usually have graphical tools

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In other words     IDE Even your notepad is an IDE  Every software you write compile code with is an IDE     Library A bunch of code which simplifies functions methods for quick use   API A programming interface for functions configuration which you work with  its usage is often documented   SDK Extras and or for development testing purposes    ToolKit Tiny apps for quick use  often GUIs   GUI  Apps with a graphical interface  requires no knowledge of programming unlike APIs   Framework Bunch of APIs huge Library Snippets wrapped in a namespace or encapsulated from outer scope for compact handling without conflicts with other code   MVC A design pattern separated in Models  Views and Controllers for huge applications  They are not dependent on each other and can be changed improved replaced without to take care of other code   Example       Car  Model  The object that is being   presented    Example in IT  A HTML form    Camera  View  Something that is able to see the object car     Example in IT  Browser that renders a website with the form    Driver  Controller  Someone who drives that car    Example in IT  Functions which handle form data that s being submitted    Snippets Small codes of only a few lines  may not be even complete but worth for a quick share   Plug-ins Exclusive functions for specified frameworks APIs libraries only   Add-ons Additional modules or services for specific GUIs

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An IDE is an integrated development environment - a suped-up text editor with additional support for developing  such as forms designers  resource editors  etc   compiling and debugging applications  e g Eclipse  Visual Studio   A Library is a chunk of code that you can call from your own code  to help you do things more quickly easily  For example  a Bitmap Processing library will provide facilities for loading and manipulating bitmap images  saving you having to write all that code for yourself  Typically a library will only offer one area of functionality  processing images or operating on zip files   An API  application programming interface  is a term meaning the functions methods in a library that you can call to ask it to do things for you - the interface to the library   An SDK  software development kit  is a library or group of libraries  often with extra tool applications  data files and sample code  that aid you in developing code that uses a particular system  e g  extension code for using features of an operating system  Windows SDK   drawing 3D graphics via a particular system  DirectX SDK   writing add-ins to extend other applications  Office SDK   or writing code to make a device like an Arduino or a mobile phone do what you want   An SDK will still usually have a single focus   A toolkit is like an SDK - it s a group of tools  and often code libraries  that you can use to make it easier to access a device or system    Though perhaps with more focus on providing tools and applications than on just code libraries   A framework is a big library or group of libraries that provides many services  rather than perhaps only one focussed ability as most libraries SDKs do   For example   NET provides an application framework - it makes it easier to use most  if not all  of the disparate services you need  e g  Windows  graphics  printing  communications  etc  to write a vast range of applications - so one  library  provides support for pretty much everything you need to do  Often a framework supplies a complete base on which you build your own code  rather than you building an application that consumes library code to do parts of its work   There are of course many examples in the wild that won t exactly match these descriptions though

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The Car Analogy    IDE  The MS Office of Programming  It s where you type your code  plus some added features to make you a happier programmer   e g  Eclipse  Netbeans   Car body  It s what you really touch  see and work on   Library  A library is a collection of functions  often grouped into multiple program files  but packaged into a single archive file  This contains programs created by other folks  so that you don t have to reinvent the wheel   e g  junit jar  log4j jar   A library generally has a key role  but does all of its work behind the scenes  it doesn t have a GUI  Car s engine   API  The library publisher s documentation  This is how you should use my library   e g  log4j API  junit API   Car s user manual - yes  cars do come with one too     Kits  What is a kit  It s a collection of many related items that work together to provide a specific service  When someone says medicine kit  you get everything you need for an emergency  plasters  aspirin  gauze and antiseptic  etc      SDK  McDonald s Happy Meal  You have everything you need  and don t need  boxed neatly  main course  drink  dessert and a bonus toy  An SDK is a bunch of different software components assembled into a package  such that they re  ready-for-action  right out of the box  It often includes multiple libraries and can  but may not necessarily include plugins  API documentation  even an IDE itself   e g  iOS Development Kit    Toolkit  GUI  GUI  GUI  When you hear  toolkit  in a programming context  it will often refer to a set of libraries intended for GUI development  Since toolkits are UI-centric  they often come with plugins  or standalone IDE s  that provide screen-painting utilities   e g  GWT    Framework  While not the prevalent notion  a framework can be viewed as a kit  It also has a library  or a collection of libraries that work together  that provides a specific coding structure  amp  pattern  thus the word  framework    e g  Spring Framework

[api] Difference between framework vs Library vs IDE vs API vs SDK vs Toolkits?

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