vkCreatePipelineLayout

vkCreatePipelineLayout is a Vulkan API function used to create a VkPipelineLayout object. This object describes the set of resources, such as uniform buffers, storage buffers, and sampled images, that a pipeline will use. It defines the binding points and shader stages for these resources, allowing Vulkan to manage them efficiently.

The function takes a VkDevice, a pointer to a VkPipelineLayoutCreateInfo structure, and a pointer to a VkPipelineLayout object as input. The VkPipelineLayoutCreateInfo structure specifies the number of descriptor set layouts, push constant ranges, and other relevant information. Descriptor set layouts define the types and bindings of descriptors that will be used in the pipeline. Push constant ranges define small, frequently changing data that can be directly passed to shaders without needing to bind descriptor sets.

Upon successful creation, vkCreatePipelineLayout returns a VkResult indicating success or failure. A valid VkPipelineLayout object must be created before it can be used in pipeline state objects like VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo or VkComputePipelineCreateInfo. This separation allows for efficient reuse of pipeline layouts across multiple pipelines. The VkPipelineLayout object remains valid until it is destroyed by calling vkDestroyPipelineLayout.