What is the difference between SDK and API?

1. Different compositions:

SDK software development tools include, in a broad sense, a collection of related documents, examples and tools that assist in the development of a certain type of software. API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of predefined functions, or a convention for connecting different components of a software system.

2. Different purposes:

The purpose of API is to provide applications and developers with the ability to access a set of routines based on certain software or hardware without having to access the source code or understand Details of the inner workings. Software development kits are generally development tools used by software engineers to create application software for specific software packages, software frameworks, hardware platforms, operating systems, etc.

3. Different contents:

In order to use API functions, there are .h and .lib files corresponding to the API, and the SDK provides a complete set of Windows applications for development. A "toolkit" of related documents, examples, and tools needed for a program. The SDK contains the necessary information for using the API, so the development method of writing Windows applications using only the API is often called "SDK programming".

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