So many numbers in Android, I just can not figure it out.

  • What is API, v4, v7, v13, v14 - support.libary their differences
  • What is sdk, build-tools, support.design
  • How to distinguish them?
  • And why does Gradle constantly swear at these numbers, how to understand which of them to use ??

Closed due to the fact that the question is too general for the participants Suvitruf ♦ , Komdosh , aleksandr barakin , 0xdb , Enikeyschik February 18 at 6:45 .

Please correct the question so that it describes the specific problem with sufficient detail to determine the appropriate answer. Do not ask a few questions at once. See “How to ask a good question?” For clarification. If the question can be reformulated according to the rules set out in the certificate , edit it .

  • Good afternoon. We have taken each question to ask separately. - Suvitruf ♦

1 answer 1

  1. These numbers indicate the minimum supported version, so v4 can be used with minSdkVersion=4 , v7 with minSdkVersion=7 . You cannot use v7 with minSdkVersion=4 . For an application, it is better to use the version closer to the minimum SDK version, since in this case less inherited code is used. These libraries are necessary for backward compatibility of code written for more modern versions of Android.

  2. SDK - Software Development Kit, a set of development libraries. build-tools - application build tools. support.design - so you understand about android.support.design , this is a library for implementing Material Design in the application.

  3. By name Remember, understand the essence.

  4. Too general question, we need specific examples of errors. Most likely the library versions are incompatible.

  • Just some of these numbers should be the same in the assembly, otherwise it gives an error?!. And there is also compileSdkVersion , if my phone is API 21, and compileSdkVersion 28, then the application still runs, why? - Rarity7-
  • Well, if you add an example error to the question, I think I can answer this question. - Komdosh
  • Yes, there are no mistakes now, I just want to sort it out for the future, just to set up a project I constantly go to this site. But I want to learn to understand these numbers in order to manually adjust and understand what I am doing. How do I understand the higher these numbers, the better they are ?! - Rarity7-