New Gameball SDKs: A Quicker Way to Integrate with Our APIs

What is an API? What is an SDK? What’s the difference between them and how do they work with third-party apps? 

In this blog post, we’re going to answer all of these questions and more. We’re going to use Gameball Server-Side SDKs as an example of efficient, fast, and easy API adoption.

Let’s dive in!

Gameball currently supports server-side integration with 5 programming languages through our configured SDKs.  Supported languages are Javascript/Nodejs, Ruby, .NET, PHP, and Python.

What Is an API?

An Application Programming Interface (API) allows your application to communicate with an exterior service through a simple set of commands. The ‘interface’ is the place where different software components can interconnect. Using an API enables developers to add certain functionalities to their applications and accelerate the development process.

What Is an SDK? 

A Software Development Kit (SDK) is a collection of tools, guidelines, and programs used to establish applications for a particular platform. Put simply, an SDK is a kit for developing software. 

SDKs can contain APIs (or multiple APIs), IDE’s, Documentation, Libraries, Code Samples, and other utilities. SDKs exhibit many robust features and functionalities which reduce the intricacy of programs and applications development.

What Is the Difference Between an API and an SDK?

As mentioned, an SDK is a package that encompasses instructions that enable developers to create systems and develop applications. APIs, on the other hand, are purpose-built for express use, that is to enable communication between applications. 

Since an SDK is used to create an application that has to interact with different applications, it should include an API for this functionality. Inversely, an API is used for communication. However, it can't be used independently to create a brand new application.

Another way to understand this is to think in terms of houses. APIs are telephone lines, permitting communication in and out of the house. The SDK is the house itself and all of its contents.

Let’s go about an SDK in a different way.

Imagine an SDK as a container for various functionalities that can be performed by using an API’s communication protocols.

Let’s take Skyhook’s Precision Location SDK as an example. It provides all the tools and documentation needed to perform highly accurate geo-positioning on a mobile device using the Android operating system. 

So, all the app developer needs to do is simply use the SDK, and it will handle all calculations needed to locate an accurate position.

To sum up, an SDK is used to build new applications or to include functionality within a package, whereas an API is used to boost functions to an application.

The Perks of Using an SDK

There are several unparalleled and distinct advantages of using an SDK.

1. Quicker Integration of Functionalities

Having an SDK makes the integration process a lot faster. Your devkit will assist in shortening the integration process since it makes integrating with your current tech stack much simpler. It lets the developers acquire information at a fast pace.

2. More Efficient Development & Faster Deployment

If you consider the fact that, on average, your app uses around 18.3 external SDKs (maybe even more if it’s a gaming application), then you’ll notice that none of your developers would have the time capacity to code every single tool from scratch.

Pre-existing SDKs that are publicly accessible can make your developer’s work much easier and quicker. SDKs are associated with many sets of libraries and development tools that can substantially lessen your developers' time and help them build and test a variety of applications at a much faster pace. 

3. Boosts Brand Credibility and Audience Reach

An SDK boosts your product’s interoperability, thereby growing the opportunities of third-party tools integrating with your app, and subsequently leading to better publicity and higher brand credibility.

4. Improves Brand Control Which Helps in Diminishing Risks

When you deploy an SDK tool, you have better control over the components of your user interface which integrates with different apps. This control allows you to govern not only how your product works with third-party apps but also how it appears and offers a user experience. 

In other words, your SDK can be used to manage the way developers integrate your service into their personal UIs.

5. Provides Users with Customized App Experience

A set of useful tools and functionalities can affordably expand the versatility of your app.  An SDK lets you supply a unique yet relevant app experience tailored for your app users. It defines a purpose and design for your app. A customized app experience perpetually boosts app retention.

Introducing Gameball’s Official SDKs

We’re excited to announce the release of our new SDKs, a powerful release designed to boost your app’s personalization and engagement.

Developers can now integrate Gameball into their Node.js, Ruby, .NET, Python, and PHP applications even more quickly and easily.

These SDKs are super light on your app and are convenient for large enterprises as well as SMBs. All the new SDKs are built from the ground up for your coding pleasure.

They let you give your users access to all Gameball services and help supply seamless app experiences at scale. You can find the latest source code on our GitHub.

Our server-side SDKs provide you with the means to effortlessly create client applications.

Our SDKs provide you with all of the necessary codes, so you only need to follow our Gameball guidelines to start using them.

A Quick Example

Here’s an example to show you a use case for one of our services through our SDK.

The following example will be using our Purchase Reward program, which allows you to reward your players with score, points, or both based on the configured settings on Gameball.

The example shown is a request sent to Gameball when you want to reward a player having  playerUniqueId: “player123” with points equivalent to 100, which are granted according to your points configurations on the Purchase Reward program.

Prior to the release of our SDKs, a major concern for developers was supplying the essential headers, in addition to performing tasks of computing the message validation hash, which is an SH1 encrypted string of the body params and secret transaction key.

curl -X POST -H 'apiKey: 807b041b7d35425988e354e1f6bce186' -d '{
"playerUniqueId":"player123",
"amount":100,
"transactionId":"tra_123456789",
"transactionTime":"2019-09-19T16:14:09.895Z",
"hash":"f3437e2919ab9f853c7ccde92f4f2b9a6def42db"
}' -v -i 'https://api.gameball.co/api/v2.0/integrations/transaction/reward'

After the release of our SDK most of the work is encapsulated and developers should no longer worry about the above-mentioned concerns. Take a look at how the same example can be triggered using our Node.js SDK.

• First, you need to require Gameball’s SDK in your file:

var gameball = require('gameball')

• Secondly, initialize Gameball’s handler using the API and transaction keys available in your Gameball Dashboard:

var Gameball = new gameball('apiKey','transactionKey')

• Then call the command responsible for rewarding points to a player using Gameball’s handler.

Gameball.rewardPoints({
   "playerUniqueId": "player123",
   "amount": 100,
   "transactionId" : "tra_123456789"
   },
   function(err, res) {
     if (err) console.log(err)
     else console.log(res)
})

Yes and that’s it, your player has received the rewarded points.

Try Our New SDKs Today!

Start personalizing and engaging your app users with our new SDKs, check our technical documentation through docs.gameball.co.

If you are already an existing partner, contact your account manager. If you are new to Gameball then drop us a line at support@gameball.co.