DirectX

DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for multimedia and game programming on Microsoft platforms. It provides low-level access to video, audio, input stages, and other capabilities, enabling developers to create high-performance games and rich media applications for Windows and Xbox consoles.

History and scope: First released in 1995 to standardize Windows game development and replace aging APIs. The DirectX family includes Direct3D for 3D graphics, as well as other components that handle 2D rendering, audio, input, and networking in earlier eras. Over time, DirectX has evolved through multiple versions, with Direct3D becoming the primary 3D API and the introduction of low-level, explicit-resource-management features in DirectX 12.

Key components: Direct3D handles real-time 3D rendering; Direct2D for 2D graphics; DirectWrite for text rendering; DirectCompute for general-purpose GPU work; DXGI for graphics infrastructure; DirectInput and DirectSound were used for input and audio in earlier eras, with newer multimedia components like XInput and XAudio2 taking over in many scenarios. The DirectX shader language (HLSL) enables programmable pipelines; DirectX 12 introduces low-level control, multi-threading, and explicit resource management, while DirectX Raytracing (DXR) adds hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Platforms and ecosystem: DirectX is integrated into Windows and is also used by the Xbox family of consoles. The DirectX End-User Runtime and the DirectX Software Development Kit (SDK) provide headers, libraries, and documentation for developers.

Impact: DirectX remains a central API suite for Windows game development and multimedia applications.