Barcode Scanner SDK

The best programming language for a barcode scanner will depend on what app your barcode scanner will be in, and how you want to build or integrate it.

Writing a barcode scanner from scratch is a lot of work and code. You would want to write it in a language that is performant, stable, and multi-platform. By multi-platform this means that you write the code once and then can run it on Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, etc.

The most used language with those characteristics is C++ (the one used by Scandit). There are other languages with these traits, for example Rust.

However, building a functional scanner from scratch is hard. The majority of people integrate a pre-existing barcode scanning library instead.

Integration of a barcode scanning library varies based on the application type. For mobile apps, Java and Swift are suitable for native Android and iOS apps. For web applications, JavaScript is the most common. Javascript is also compatible with cross-platform frameworks such as Cordova, Xamarin (iOS, Android, Forms), .NET (iOS, Android), React Native, Flutter, Capacitor, Titanium and Linux / C.

Learn how to scan your first barcodes or IDs in just a few minutes with Scandit.

Your choice of the best barcode scanner SDK for Android will depend on understanding what your barcode scanning users need.

For low-frequency scanning such as a small online retailer that scans tens of items a day, an open-source library may be sufficient. However, these are usually harder to use and slower to scan than paid libraries. For large-scale scanning environments such as a warehouse or a retail shop, which process thousands of items a day, fast and reliable scanning is essential for business success.

An open-source library that’s hard to use or slow to scan may be sufficient if you’re scanning at low frequency. However, it’s likely not suitable for an environment such as a warehouse or a retail shop processing thousands of items a day.

Barcode scanning, particularly at scale, requires more than setting camera permissions and capturing camera images – you also need to consider UX and performance.

Getting navigation, interaction and feedback right is often what makes the difference in user adoption and accurate capturing of data. Your barcode scanner SDK also needs to perform in real-world conditions – which may involve scanning hundreds of items an hour, scanning damaged barcodes, scanning in low light or at long distances.

Learn more in our Android developers’ guide to adding a barcode scanning library.

To scan barcodes from a distance using a barcode scanner SDK, you’ll need two things: advanced computer vision software (likely a paid library), and a user interface that enables users to pinpoint the barcode they want to scan.

Scanning barcodes at a distance requires the software to first detect the presence of a barcode in three-dimensional space, and then decode it based on limited information (literally, a smaller number of pixels to “read”). Both of these are significant computer vision challenges. Most open-source software will struggle to detect barcodes from a distance, necessitating users to move closer to scan effectively.

To scan barcodes with high performance at a distance you will likely need a paid library such as Scandit’s SDK, which can offer a higher scanning range.

Scanning at a distance will also mean that there will often be many barcodes at once in the field of view of the device camera. For an effective user experience, your barcode scanner will need a user interface that enables users to pinpoint and select a single barcode, such as restricting the scan area. The Scandit SDK provides pre-built UI components for building optimized interfaces for these situations.

The Scandit barcode scanner SDK allows you to scan barcodes in real time. Scanning takes around a tenth of a second, even with damaged codes, long distances, wide angles or low light. That’s comfortably faster than any human can detect and will feel instantaneous.

Real-time insights can also be added to the scan using AR overlays. For example, Scandit MatrixScan Count uses AR to add check mark and alert icons to packages being received.

In theory, to integrate a barcode scanner into your app you can just select a barcode scanning library (either paid or open-source) and plumb it into your app using an API. However, while this might enable you to successfully scan a single barcode while sat at your development screen, the situation when users try to scan barcodes in the real world is likely to be very different.

To integrate scanning successfully, you also need to consider UX and performance principles. There can be significant downstream problems with user adoption if you don’t get navigation, interaction and feedback right.

Open-source options often require you to develop your own user interface (UI), incurring all the research, development, and testing costs. Paid libraries, such as Scandit, tend to include pre-built UI components that reduce your reliance on UX expertise and effort.

A barcode scanner SDK (software development kit) is a collection of code and documentation that allows a developer to add barcode scanning to their mobile or web application. It’s composed of a barcode scanning library plus APIs (application programming interfaces), written documentation, code samples and tutorials.

The core of a barcode scanner SDK is the scanning library or scanning engine – computer vision software that detects and decodes barcodes, often using artificial intelligence. This software is often patented.

APIs (application programming interfaces) then allows developers to connect the core scanning library to their app. Scandit’s barcode scanning software can be integrated into a webpage using Javascript, or in frameworks including React Native, Native iOS, Native Android, Xamarin, Flutter, .NET, Cordova, Capacitor, and Titanium. Documentation, tutorials and code samples give guidance on how to do this and also cover important features such as usability and scanning interface design.

Scandit’s barcode scanner SDK also includes smart data capture capabilities such as pre-built components that solve many common usability challenges for you, and advanced features such as batch scanning and reusable AR overlays.

A barcode scanner API (Application Programming Interface) is code that allows developers to add a barcode scanning library or scan engine to their mobile or web application.

The barcode scanning library (usually specialist computer vision software and often proprietary) handles the core scanning functionality. The API both connects the barcode scanning library to the camera feed and sends the scan results to the rest of the application.