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software development kit (SDK)

An SDK, or software development kit, is a collection of tools, libraries, documentation, and sample code that a vendor bundles together so developers can build applications for a specific platform, operating system, or service.

An SDK packages the pieces a developer would otherwise gather separately:

A teal "SDK bundle" box at the top with arrows fanning down to five boxes (Code libraries, a yellow API box, Compiler and build tools, Debugger, Docs and samples).
One install bundles the build pieces, with an API often among them.

A typical kit ships with reusable code libraries, an application programming interface (API) that exposes the platform’s capabilities, a compiler or build tooling, a debugger, and reference documentation with worked examples. Many SDKs also plug into an integrated development environment (IDE) that ties the bundled tools together.

Many SDKs are platform-specific and distributed for a target environment, such as the Android SDK, Apple’s iOS SDK, and the Java Development Kit. Others target an online service and ship for several languages at once, from cloud kits like the AWS and Google Cloud SDKs to a recent wave of AI agent SDKs, such as the OpenAI Agents SDK, Anthropic’s Claude Agent SDK, and the GitHub Copilot SDK.

Python & APIs: A Winning Combo for Reading Public Data

Tutorial

Python & APIs: A Winning Combo for Reading Public Data

In this tutorial, you'll learn what APIs are and how to consume them using Python. You'll also learn some core concepts for working with APIs, such as status codes, HTTP methods, the requests library, and much more. You'll also see a few examples of real-life APIs and how to consume them.

intermediate api

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources:

By Martin Breuss • Updated June 22, 2026 • Reviewed by Leodanis Pozo Ramos
Computer Science Glossary Share Feedback