| # ANGLE: Vulkan Back-end |
| |
| ANGLE's Vulkan back-end implementation lives in this folder. |
| |
| [Vulkan](https://www.khronos.org/vulkan/) is an explicit graphics API. It has a lot in common with |
| other explicit APIs such as Microsoft's [D3D12][D3D12 Guide] and Apple's |
| [Metal](https://developer.apple.com/metal/). Compared to APIs like OpenGL or D3D11 explicit APIs can |
| offer a number of significant benefits: |
| |
| * Lower API call CPU overhead. |
| * A smaller API surface with more direct hardware control. |
| * Better support for multi-core programming. |
| * Vulkan in particular has open-source tooling and tests. |
| |
| [D3D12 Guide]: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/direct3d12/directx-12-programming-guide |
| |
| ## Back-end Design |
| |
| The [`RendererVk`](RendererVk.cpp) class represents an `EGLDisplay`. `RendererVk` owns shared global |
| resources like the [VkDevice][VkDevice], [VkQueue][VkQueue], the [Vulkan format tables](vk_format_utils.h) |
| and [internal Vulkan shaders](shaders). The [ContextVk](ContextVk.cpp) class implements the back-end |
| of a front-end OpenGL Context. ContextVk processes state changes and handles action commands like |
| `glDrawArrays` and `glDrawElements`. |
| |
| Implementation details can be found in the `doc` directory. |
| |
| - [Fast OpenGL State Transitions](doc/FastOpenGLStateTransitions.md) |
| - [Shader Module Compilation](doc/ShaderModuleCompilation.md) |
| - [OpenGL Line Segment Rasterization](doc/OpenGLLineSegmentRasterization.md) |
| - [Format Tables and Emulation](doc/FormatTablesAndEmulation.md) |
| |
| [VkDevice]: https://www.khronos.org/registry/vulkan/specs/1.1-extensions/man/html/VkDevice.html |
| [VkQueue]: https://www.khronos.org/registry/vulkan/specs/1.1-extensions/man/html/VkQueue.html |
