VkDescriptorSetLayout

VkDescriptorSetLayout is a Vulkan object that defines the structure and bindings for a descriptor set. A descriptor set is a collection of descriptors that are bound to shader stages for texture, buffer, and uniform access. The layout specifies how many descriptors of each type (e.g., uniform buffer, sampled image, storage buffer) are present and how they are bound to specific shader binding points.

When creating a VkDescriptorSetLayout, an array of VkDescriptorSetLayoutBinding structures is provided. Each binding defines the binding number, the descriptor type, the number of descriptors in an array (if applicable), the shader stages that will access this binding, and a sampler if it's an immutable sampler. The binding number is crucial as it maps directly to the `binding = N` declaration within a GLSL shader.

Multiple VkDescriptorSetLayout objects can be created to represent different configurations of descriptor sets used within an application. These layouts are then used when allocating actual descriptor sets from a VkDescriptorPool. They ensure that the application correctly binds resources to shaders, preventing errors and enabling efficient resource management. The VkDescriptorSetLayout itself does not hold any actual descriptor data; it only defines the blueprint for how descriptor sets should be structured.