Summary: Platform as a Service virtual application patterns are realized by supporting a combination of application-centric deployment models, virtual applications (consisting of individual components and policies), the infrastructure and middleware they employ, and workload-specific content — extensions or “plug-ins” that define components, links, and policies used to describe and deploy virtual application patterns, such as those usable on both the IBM® SmartCloud Enterprise cloud and IBM PureSystems™. This article explains how to get started with the IBM Workload Plug-in Development Kit and on your way to creating and customizing virtual application patterns. The companion article, Using the IBM Workload Plug-in Development Kit demonstrates some basic toolkit operations.