android:minSdkVersion和android:targetSdkVersion都是Integer值，我们需要在android manifest文件中声明，但两者都有不同的属性。

android:minSdkVersion:这是运行android应用程序所需的最低API级别。如果我们将在较低的API版本上安装相同的应用程序，解析器将出现错误，应用程序不支持的问题将出现。

android:targetSdkVersion: Target sdk version用于设置应用程序的Target API级别。如果manifest中没有声明这个属性，minSdk version将是你的TargetSdk version。这总是正确的，“应用程序支持安装在所有更高版本的API，我们声明为TargetSdk版本”。要使应用程序有限的目标，我们需要声明maxSdkVersion在我们的manifest文件…

一个概念总是可以用例子更好地表达。我很难理解这些概念，直到我深入研究Android框架源代码，并做了一些实验，甚至在阅读了Android开发人员网站和相关stackoverflow线程中的所有文档之后。我将分享两个例子，它们帮助我充分理解这些概念。

一个DatePickerDialog将根据你放在AndroidManifest.xml文件的targetSDKversion(<use -sdk android: targetSDKversion ="INTEGER_VALUE"/>)中的级别看起来不同。如果您将值设置为10或更低，您的DatePickerDialog将看起来像左边。另一方面，如果您将值设置为11或更高，则DatePickerDialog将看起来是正确的，具有完全相同的代码。

我用来创建这个示例的代码非常简单。java看起来:

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    }

    public void onClickButton(View v) {
        DatePickerDialog d = new DatePickerDialog(this, null, 2014, 5, 4);
        d.show();       
    }
}

而activity_main.xml看起来是:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<Button
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:onClick="onClickButton"
    android:text="Button" />
</RelativeLayout>

就是这样。这是我需要测试的所有代码。

当你看到Android框架源代码时，这种外观上的变化是非常明显的。是这样的:

public DatePickerDialog(Context context,
    OnDateSetListener callBack,
    int year,
    int monthOfYear,
    int dayOfMonth,
    boolean yearOptional) {
        this(context, context.getApplicationInfo().targetSdkVersion >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB
                ? com.android.internal.R.style.Theme_Holo_Light_Dialog_Alert
                : com.android.internal.R.style.Theme_Dialog_Alert,
        callBack, year, monthOfYear, dayOfMonth, yearOptional);
}

如您所见，框架获取当前的targetSDKversion并设置不同的主题。这种代码片段(getApplicationInfo())。targetSdkVersion >= SOME_VERSION)可以在Android框架中随处找到。

另一个例子是关于WebView类的。Webview类的公共方法应该在主线程上调用，如果没有调用，当你设置targetSDKversion 18或更高版本时，运行时系统抛出RuntimeException。该行为可以通过源代码清楚地交付。它就是这样写的。

sEnforceThreadChecking = context.getApplicationInfo().targetSdkVersion >=
            Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR2;

if (sEnforceThreadChecking) {
    throw new RuntimeException(throwable);
}

Android文档称:“随着Android的每一个新版本的发展，一些行为甚至外观可能会发生变化。”我们已经研究了行为和外表的变化，以及这些变化是如何实现的。

In summary, the Android doc says "This attribute(targetSdkVersion) informs the system that you have tested against the target version and the system should not enable any compatibility behaviors to maintain your app's forward-compatibility with the target version.". This is really clear with WebView case. It was OK until JELLY_BEAN_MR2 released to call WebView class's public method on not-main thread. It is nonsense if Android framework throws a RuntimeException on JELLY_BEAN_MR2 devices. It just should not enable newly introduced behaviors for its interest, which cause fatal result. So, what we have to do is to check whether everything is OK on certain targetSDKversions. We get benefit like appearance enhancement with setting higher targetSDKversion, but it comes with responsibility.

编辑: 免责声明。DatePickerDialog构造函数根据当前targetSDKversion(上面所示)设置不同的主题，实际上在稍后的提交中已经更改。尽管如此，我还是使用了那个例子，因为逻辑没有改变，而且那些代码片段清楚地显示了targetSDKversion概念。

OP对这个问题的评论(基本上是说targetSDK不会影响应用程序的编译)是完全错误的!很抱歉我这么直率。

In short, here is the purpose to declaring a different targetSDK from the minSDK: It means you are using features from a higher level SDK than your minimum, but you have ensured backwards compatibility. In other words, imagine that you want to use a feature that was only recently introduced, but that isn't critical to your application. You would then set the targetSDK to the version where this new feature was introduced and the minimum to something lower so that everyone could still use your app.

To give an example, let's say you're writing an app that makes extensive use of gesture detection. However, every command that can be recognised by a gesture can also be done by a button or from the menu. In this case, gestures are a 'cool extra' but aren't required. Therefore you would set the target sdk to 7 ("Eclair" when the GestureDetection library was introduced), and the minimumSDK to level 3 ("Cupcake") so that even people with really old phones could use your app. All you'd have to do is make sure that your app checked the version of Android it was running on before trying to use the gesture library, to avoid trying to use it if it didn't exist. (Admittedly this is a dated example since hardly anyone still has a v1.5 phone, but there was a time when maintaining compatibility with v1.5 was really important.)

再举一个例子，如果你想使用Gingerbread或Honeycomb的特性，你可以使用这个。一些人很快就会得到更新，但许多人，尤其是使用较老硬件的人，可能会继续使用Eclair，直到他们购买新设备。这将允许你使用一些很酷的新功能，但不会排除部分可能的市场。

Android开发人员的博客上有一篇关于如何使用这个功能的非常好的文章，特别是如何设计我上面提到的“在使用之前检查功能是否存在”的代码。

致OP:我写这篇文章主要是为了让将来偶然遇到这个问题的人受益，因为我意识到你的问题很久以前就被问过了。

对于那些想要总结的人，

android:minSdkVersion

是应用程序支持的最低版本。如果您的设备是低版本的android，应用程序将无法安装。

同时,

android:targetSdkVersion

是API级别，直到你的应用程序被设计运行。这意味着，你的手机系统不需要使用任何兼容性行为来保持向前兼容性，因为你已经测试了这个API。

你的应用仍然会运行在高于给定targetSdkVersion的Android版本上，但Android兼容性行为将开始。

免费的东西- - - - - -

android: maxSdkVersion

如果你的设备的API版本更高，应用程序将无法安装。Ie。这是你允许你的应用程序安装的最大API。

ie。对于MinSDK -4, maxSDK - 8, targetSDK - 8我的应用程序至少在1.6上工作，但我也使用了仅在2.2中支持的功能，如果安装在2.2设备上，这些功能将可见。此外，对于maxSDK - 8，这个应用程序将不会安装在使用API > 8的手机上。

在我写这个答案的时候，Android文档并没有很好地解释这个问题。现在已经解释得很清楚了。点击这里查看

当你设置targetSdkVersion="xx"时，你是在证明你的应用程序在API级别xx上正常工作(例如，已经彻底和成功地测试了)。

运行在API级别高于xx的Android版本将自动应用兼容性代码来支持任何你可能依赖的功能，这些功能在API级别xx或之前可用，但现在在该Android版本的更高级别已经过时。

Conversely, if you are using any features that became obsolete at or prior to level xx, compatibility code will not be automatically applied by OS versions at higher API levels (that no longer include those features) to support those uses. In that situation, your own code must have special case clauses that test the API level and, if the OS level detected is a higher one that no longer has the given API feature, your code must use alternate features that are available at the running OS's API level.

如果它没有做到这一点，那么一些通常会在代码中触发事件的接口特性可能就不会出现，并且您可能会缺少用户触发这些事件并访问其功能所需的关键接口特性(如下面的示例所示)。

正如在其他回答中所述，如果您想使用一些最初定义在比您的minSdkVersion更高API级别上的API特性，并且已经采取步骤确保您的代码可以检测和处理在比targetSdkVersion更低级别上缺乏这些特性，则可以将targetSdkVersion设置为高于minSdkVersion。

为了警告开发人员专门测试使用特性所需的最低API级别，如果代码包含对任何在比minSdkVersion更晚的API级别上定义的方法的调用，编译器将发出一个错误(不仅仅是警告)，即使targetSdkVersion大于或等于该方法首次可用的API级别。若要删除此错误，请使用编译器指令

@TargetApi(nn)

告诉编译器，该指令范围内的代码(在方法或类之前)已经被编写为在调用任何依赖于至少具有该API级别的方法之前测试至少nn的API级别。例如，下面的代码定义了一个方法，可以从minSdkVersion小于11且targetSdkVersion大于或等于11的应用程序的代码中调用:

@TargetApi(11)
    public void refreshActionBarIfApi11OrHigher() {
      //If the API is 11 or higher, set up the actionBar and display it
      if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 11) {
        //ActionBar only exists at API level 11 or higher
        ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar();

        //This should cause onPrepareOptionsMenu() to be called.
        // In versions of the API prior to 11, this only occurred when the user pressed 
        // the dedicated menu button, but at level 11 and above, the action bar is 
        // typically displayed continuously and so you will need to call this
        // each time the options on your menu change.
        invalidateOptionsMenu();

        //Show the bar
        actionBar.show();
    }
}

如果您已经在更高的级别上进行了测试并且一切正常，那么您可能还想声明更高的targetSdkVersion，即使您没有使用任何来自高于minSdkVersion的API级别的特性。这只是为了避免访问旨在从目标级别调整到最小级别的兼容性代码的开销，因为您已经确认(通过测试)不需要这样的调整。

An example of a UI feature that depends upon the declared targetSdkVersion would be the three-vertical-dot menu button that appears on the status bar of apps having a targetSdkVersion less than 11, when those apps are running under API 11 and higher. If your app has a targetSdkVersion of 10 or below, it is assumed that your app's interface depends upon the existence of a dedicated menu button, and so the three-dot button appears to take the place of the earlier dedicated hardware and/or onscreen versions of that button (e.g., as seen in Gingerbread) when the OS has a higher API level for which a dedicated menu button on the device is no longer assumed. However, if you set your app's targetSdkVersion to 11 or higher, it is assumed that you have taken advantage of features introduced at that level that replace the dedicated menu button (e.g., the Action Bar), or that you have otherwise circumvented the need to have a system menu button; consequently, the three-vertical-dot menu "compatibility button" disappears. In that case, if the user can't find a menu button, she can't press it, and that, in turn, means that your activity's onCreateOptionsMenu(menu) override might never get invoked, which, again in turn, means that a significant part of your app's functionality could be deprived of its user interface. Unless, of course, you have implemented the Action Bar or some other alternative means for the user to access these features.

相比之下，minSdkVersion声明要求设备的操作系统版本至少具有该API级别才能运行应用程序。这影响哪些设备能够在谷歌Play应用程序商店(也可能是其他应用程序商店)上看到和下载应用程序。这是一种说法，说明你的应用程序依赖于OS (API或其他)的功能，建立在该级别，并没有一个可接受的方式来处理这些功能的缺失。

An example of using minSdkVersion to ensure the presence of a feature that is not API-related would be to set minSdkVersion to 8 in order to ensure that your app will run only on a JIT-enabled version of the Dalvik interpreter (since JIT was introduced to the Android interpreter at API level 8). Since performance for a JIT-enabled interpreter can be as much as five times that of one lacking that feature, if your app makes heavy use of the processor then you might want to require API level 8 or above in order to ensure adequate performance.

android:minSdkVersion和android:targetSdkVersion都是Integer值，我们需要在android manifest文件中声明，但两者都有不同的属性。

android:minSdkVersion:这是运行android应用程序所需的最低API级别。如果我们将在较低的API版本上安装相同的应用程序，解析器将出现错误，应用程序不支持的问题将出现。

android:targetSdkVersion: Target sdk version用于设置应用程序的Target API级别。如果manifest中没有声明这个属性，minSdk version将是你的TargetSdk version。这总是正确的，“应用程序支持安装在所有更高版本的API，我们声明为TargetSdk版本”。要使应用程序有限的目标，我们需要声明maxSdkVersion在我们的manifest文件…