Graphics Libraries

TODO: Copy Notes from Notepad and Budgie Backup from Early 2022

• Hardware Abstraction API: OpenGL, Vulkan, DirectX
• Graphics API implementations: 2D: DRM, GDI, Graphics Card Drivers (DirectX/OpenGL/Vulkan), | 3D: Graphics Card Drivers (DirectX/OpenGL/Vulkan), Mesa3D
  • Wayland and Direct2D don't directly access 2D drivers.
• 3D GUI Libraries:
  • ImGui (3D Apps)
  • OGRE
  • VTK
• Low Level GUI Libraries
  • SFML (Multimedia Library; Low userbase; uses modern C++ and OOP)
  • SDL (Low Level / Pixel manipulation)
    • If using a graphics API (OpenGL/Vulkan), it works better with OpenGL
    • No networking built-in; can use 3rd party libraries for video games
  • GLFW (Only window and input handling)
  • GLUT (Old and buggy; There is FreeGLUT, still, use SFML/SDL/GLFW instead)

• Widget Frameworks:
  • C++: Qt
  • Python: PyQt5, wxWidgets, Tkinter, wxPython, Pyforms, Kivy
  • Other: GTK4

• Widget Toolkits:

  • Cross Platform: GTK, Qt, Tcl/Tk, ImGui, FLTK, GNUSTEP, XUL, IUP, Nuklear, Xamarin.Forms
  • Windows only:
    • Common Language Infrastructure (CLI; .NET): WinForms, XAML (WPF, WinUI, Silverlight), XNA
    • C++: MFC, Active Template Library, Windows Template Library, Object Windows Library
    • Pascal: Visual Component Library
    • Low Level: Win32, UWP
  • Linux/X11(/Wayland) only:
    • XForms, Motif, EFL
    • Low Level: Xlib, XCB (modern alternative to Xlib), GDK (GTK backend)
  • Apple only: Cocoa, Cocoa Touch, Xamarin.Mac, Xamarin.iOS
  • Android: Xamarin.Android, Qt for Android
  • Java: AWT, Swing, JavaFX

• Windows

  • GDI (Original graphics interface; closely tied to Win32)
  • GDI+ (Introduced as a successor to GDI in XP)
  • Direct2D (Modern replacement for GDI based on Direct3D introduced in Windows 7)
    • Supports fully hardware-accelerated alpha-blending, hence anti-aliasing, and also vector graphics
  • Direct3D (3D API)
  • DirectWrite (Text layout and rasterization engine; Rasterized text can be displayed with GDI/Direct2D)
  • DXGI (Low level infrastructure for Direct3D)
  • Window Compositing: Desktop Window Manager (DWM) was introduced in Vista. Before that, apps could draw directly to screen, causing trails when unresponsive.

• Linux

  • Uses X11 or Wayland
  • Kernel Driver (DRI / Vendor) + Userspace Library (Mesa 3D / Vendor)
  • DirectX Implementations: Gallium Nine, DXVK, VKD3D

• Apple

  • Graphics API: Mantle
  • Graphics Library: Carbon
  • Graphics Framework: Cocoa