Editing Xbox Development Kit

{{Short description|Software development kit for the Xbox}}
{{Other uses|XDK (disambiguation)}}
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{{Infobox software
| name                   = Xbox Development Kit (XDK)
| screenshot             = Xbox-Debug-Console-Set.jpg
| caption                = Xbox Debug Kit console
| developer              = [[Microsoft]]
| released               = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| latest release version = 
| latest release date    = 
| programming language   = 
| operating system       = [[Microsoft Windows]]
| platform               = [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]]
| genre                  = [[Software development kit]]
| license                = 
| website                = {{URL|https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/xbox-live/get-started/setup-ide/managed-partners/vstudio-xbox/live-where-to-get-xdk}}
}}
The '''Xbox Development Kit''' (XDK) is a [[software development kit]] created by [[Microsoft]] used to write software for the 2001 [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]] gaming system. The XDK includes [[Library (computer science)|libraries]], a [[compiler]], and various tools used to create software for the [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]]. The XDK has the option to [[software integration|integrate]] itself into [[Microsoft Visual Studio]] [[Microsoft Visual Studio#Visual Studio .NET .282002.29|2002]] or [[Microsoft Visual Studio#Visual Studio .NET 2003|2003]]. This is needed if one wants to develop applications or games for the [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]]. The XDK also includes a tool to record in-game footage, which has been widely used to create high-quality screenshots and trailers.

==Purpose==
The XDK allows software creators to create, run and distribute applications on the Xbox platform. Xbox 360 XDKs were based on all three generations of the Xbox 360 Design ("Phat", "Slim" and "E"). There were XNA Kits, which were used at some expos and given to game studios, Stress Kits, which were used to test the power of the Xbox 360 and various conditions such as undervolting and overvolting and issued to Microsoft developers only, and Demo kits, which were used to demo games. Some but not all XDKs include a sidecar which was used to emulate the [[Optical disc drive|DVD drive]] and act as a hard drive and on older XDKs with older recoveries, used for PIX Debugging. Bundled with XDKs is the Xbox 360 SDK used to connect to the console, enable memory editing, file management, and integrate to [[Visual Studio 2010]] for [[Xbox 360]] game development.

==Xbox development environment==
The Xbox [[BIOS]] is based on the [[Architecture of Windows NT|NT 5.0 kernel]], but does not have all of the resources or capabilities of the [[Windows 2000]] operating system, (for example: neither [[DirectShow]], [[Windows Registry|registry]], or [[Dynamic-link library|DLL]] are natively supported on the Xbox). Because of the constraints on the hardware and environment of the Xbox, all software development for the Xbox (and all video game consoles systems in general) are focused on reserving the limited resources that exist, the main limitation of which is the amount of available [[random access memory|RAM]].<ref name="Modding The Xbox Into The Ultimate Multimedia Center">{{cite web |url=http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/modding-xbox-ultimate-multimedia-center,807.html |title=Modding The Xbox Into The Ultimate Multimedia Center |date=2004-11-05 |author=Patrick Schmid |publisher=Tom's Hardware}}</ref>
*

==Xbox embedded operating system==
*The Xbox does not have an operating system per se, instead it only has a simple BIOS.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
**Everything else must go into the main executable and its (XDK and own-made) [[Library (computing)|libraries]].
*Only a single [[Process (computing)|process]] ([[executable]] [[Computer program|program]]) can run at a time on the Xbox.
*[[FATX|Xbox hard drive file system]] (FATX) has many limitations, among them a maximum file name length of 42 [[Character (computing)|characters]].
*The Xbox has four non-standard [[USB]] ports but the Xbox SDK does not contain a full USB [[Solution stack|stack]], thus to add support for USB hardware devices, the developer would have to code the entire USB stack from scratch.

==XDK and Xbox specific software limitations==
This is a list of XDK, Xbox hardware, and Xbox operating system specific limitations.

*[[Universal Disk Format|UDF (Universal Disk Format)]] file system limitation: The  Xbox only supports UDF version 1.02 (designed for [[DVD-Video]]), which has a maximum file size of 1&nbsp;[[Gigabyte|GB (Gigabyte)]] (a DVD in a newer UDF version with a video that is larger than 1GB will not play), with the same applying to UDF/ISO hybrid formats (a.k.a. UDF Bridge format). A workaround is to burn discs in the [[ISO 9660]] format. The ISO 9660 format has a 2&nbsp;GB maximum file size, which cannot be bypassed.<ref name="Modding The Xbox Into The Ultimate Multimedia Center"/>
*The Xbox hard disk is formatted in [[FATX|FATX (File Allocation Table for Xbox)]] which has a 4&nbsp;GB (4096 [[Megabyte]]) maximum file size, and only supports file/folder names up to 42 characters, a maximum of 255 character full path, and a maximum number of 4096 files/folders in a single folder, plus in the root of each partition, the maximum number of files/folders is 256. FATX also does not support all standard [[ASCII|ASCII characters]] in file/folder names (for example < > = ? : ; " * +, / \|¤ &).<ref name="Modding The Xbox Into The Ultimate Multimedia Center"/><ref name="Review of XBMC in Hardcore Gamer Magazine">{{cite web |title=Hardcore GamerĀ® Download |url=http://www.o-sd.com/hardcoregamermag/publicPDF/HGM_Aug.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118184719/http://www.o-sd.com/hardcoregamermag/publicPDF/HGM_Aug.pdf |archive-date=November 18, 2008 |access-date=May 31, 2010}} Review of XBMC in Hardcore Gamer Magazine</ref>
*The [[USB flash drive]] reader/writer [[Class (computer science)|class]] used by the Xbox operating system has a few limitations as well. It is limited to USB flash drives and [[hard disk]]s compatible with [[USB Mass Storage Device Class]] following the USB 1.1 standard, with a maximum size of 4&nbsp;GB. It can read and write to FATX formatted flash drives, but can only read FAT12, FAT16 (including VFAT), and FAT32. [[NTFS]] formatted drives are not supported yet.<ref name="Review of XBMC in Hardcore Gamer Magazine"/>
*With its 733&nbsp;MHz [[Intel Pentium III]]-like [[CPU]] and 64&nbsp;MB [[Shared memory (interprocess communication)|shared memory]], the Xbox has neither a fast enough CPU nor sufficient [[Random access memory|RAM]] to play [[HDTV]] videos encoded in native 720p/1080i resolution. However, the Xbox can upscale all [[SDTV|standard definition]] movies and output them at 720p or 1080i.<ref name="Modding The Xbox Into The Ultimate Multimedia Center"/><ref name="Review of XBMC in Hardcore Gamer Magazine"/>

==See also==
* [[Microsoft XNA#XNA Game Studio Microsoft|XNA Game Studio for Windows and Xbox 360]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Microsoft game products}}
{{Microsoft development tools}}

[[Category:Microsoft development tools]]
[[Category:Xbox development|Development Kit]]
[[Category:Software development kits]]