Fxc
fxc is the DirectX Effects Compiler, a command-line tool that was part of the DirectX Software Development Kit. It compiles shader source code written in HLSL and the Effects format (.fx) into binary shader code for DirectX runtimes. For HLSL, it can target multiple shader stages such as vertex, pixel, geometry, hull, domain, and compute, producing either compiled shader objects or an assembly listing. For .fx files, fxc processes the techniques and passes defined by the Effects framework and can emit a precompiled effect binary (fxo) loaded by the runtime.
The tool is used by developers to build shaders that run on Windows with DirectX. Typical workflows
As DirectX evolved to DirectX 11 and 12, Microsoft introduced newer tooling, such as the DirectX Shader
See also: DirectX, HLSL, Effects, DirectX Shader Compiler, shader model.