Chapter 6. Technical considerations when choosing a barcode SDK

Getting started with Barcodes

A good place to start is with understanding what barcode symbology is most ideal for your application. This might include considering any industry and related regulation needs and requirements. Make sure to follow common practices. Be clear about the character set you need to support your business. There are various other technical considerations too. Specifically, developers need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of building versus buying components.

Barcode Support

If you’re looking to build a barcode reader application, ultimately, you will likely turn to an SDK to save you on time, resources, and costs. So, you’ll need to be sure the SDK can support the barcode technology requirements you have. This means it should have the ability to decode 1D and 2D barcodes. It should also allow decoding from popular sources, such as images, PDF files, or cameras.

Platform Support

You’ll want to verify that the SDK can work across platforms. This includes desktop applications you might create in .NET or with popular web browsers if using a web-based approach. Today, you can’t ignore mobile applications either. So, consider whether the SDK can capture and scan barcodes from smartphone cameras and webcams, whether a photo or a camera live video stream. 20-platform

Programming Language Support

The SDK you choose should also be easy to integrate into your application. Thus, it should support key APIs such as C, C++, .NET, and JavaScript, and 32-bit or 64-bit environments. It should also support widely used programming languages, such as C#, VB.NET, Java, C++, VBScript, JavaScript, Python, Perl, Ruby, Swift, Objective-C, and so on. If you need help with setting these up, you can get professional help from companies like London IT Support.

Optimization Options

We touched on the importance of being able to customize where on a page a barcode reader should scan. In addition to zonal scan capabilities, a good SDK will let developers set page numbers to scan. This should include allowing a single barcode scan per page or multi-code scans across single or multiple pages. Equally important is the SDK’s capability to deal with imperfect barcode scan scenarios with pre-processing. This includes angled barcodes, damaged barcodes, and unreadable barcodes.

Vendor Support

In cases where you need technical support, be sure the SDK vendor provides multiple avenues for getting in touch. It’s all too common nowadays to send people to a knowledge base first and then email with a response days or weeks later. So, be sure your vendor of choice also offers more immediate technical support options, such as chat and phone support.

Vendor Updates

Finally, consider how often your SDK vendor updates their solutions. The features you need in a barcode reader SDK today might be different later. So, if your vendor isn’t active in improving its products, they may not later support a new feature you need down the road.

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This post is a part of the series: Best Practices for Maximizing Barcode Reader Technology.

Chapter 01 Where are barcodes used

Chapter 02 Character set encoded in barcodes

Chapter 03 Barcode scanning algorithm: localization and decode

Chapter 04 Developer tip: improve barcode recognition rates

Chapter 05 Developer tip: improve barcode recognition speed

Chapter 06 Technical considerations when choosing a barcode SDK