Learner

An SDK, or Software Development Kit, is a package of all of the software tools needed to develop programs for a particular computer or hardware platform. To write programs for specific computers or robotics platforms you need an API library (as described in the previous lesson), deployment scripts (which help compilation on certain platforms), possibly compilers (to allow for the compilation of the code) or IDE plug-ins (similar to extensions to a web browser). All of these items are needed to produce programs for a specific platform.

In the simple view, robots are mechanical devices controlled by embedded computers. Robots typically employ sensors, to obtain input about their environment and motors or other actuators that allow the robot to act in or alter that same environment. A necessary component of any robot will be a computer (also called a controller) which is running a program that takes the available input and translates it to an appropriate output. In a robot, output typically is physical action: moving a servo, spinning a motor, etc.

When used in the context of computers, programming generally means the process of creating the instructions that a computer will follow in solving a particular problem or completing some task. The product of programming is a "program", which is a package of instructions that can be executed by a computer.