DirectCompute

DirectCompute is the GPU computing component of Microsoft’s DirectX API that enables general-purpose computation on graphics processing units (GPUs). It provides a path for developers to perform data-parallel tasks that are not part of traditional rendering, leveraging the parallel processing power of modern GPUs.

The core programming model centers on compute shaders written in HLSL (High-Level Shading Language). Compute shaders run in a dedicated compute pipeline and are dispatched to the GPU with a specified number of thread groups. In the shader, developers define the size of each thread group with a [numthreads(x, y, z)] specification and declare entry points that process data. Resources such as unordered access views (UAVs) for read/write access, shader resource views (SRVs) for read-only input, and constant buffers for uniform data are bound to the shader stage to transfer data between the CPU and GPU.

Workflow typically involves creating a Direct3D device, allocating buffers and textures as UAVs or SRVs, writing an HLSL compute shader, compiling it, and issuing dispatch commands that determine how many thread groups execute. Synchronization within a thread group is achievable with barrier and group memory, while atomic operations on UAVs support concurrent updates across work items. DirectCompute emphasizes high-throughput parallelism on data sets such as arrays, matrices, or images, and it can be used independently or in concert with graphics workloads.

DirectCompute integrates with the DirectX graphics pipeline and is supported on DirectX 11-capable hardware and drivers, with continued evolution in later DirectX versions. It remains an option alongside other GPGPU frameworks for developers targeting Windows platforms who seek to combine compute gains with graphics capabilities.