You can get the platform tools for Windows, Linux, or Mac direct from Google's servers. You get a ZIP file containing the platform tools folder with ADB, fastboot, and a few other tools.

Having ADB and fastboot available outside of the other two main downloads, first of all, saves space. Android SDK takes up 292 MB of space.

A Nexus device along with a USB cable to connect it to your computer. The Android SDK installed on your machine with ADB and Fastboot command successfully working. Here’s a tutorial on how to do ...