Graphics library explained

A graphics library or graphics API is a program library designed to aid in rendering computer graphics to a monitor. This typically involves providing optimized versions of functions that handle common rendering tasks. This can be done purely in software and running on the CPU, common in embedded systems, or being hardware accelerated by a GPU, more common in PCs. By employing these functions, a program can assemble an image to be output to a monitor. This relieves the programmer of the task of creating and optimizing these functions, and allows them to focus on building the graphics program. Graphics libraries are mainly used in video games and simulations.

The use of graphics libraries in connection with video production systems, such as Pixar RenderMan, is not covered here.

Latest Graphics Library usage across Operating Systems:! OS! Vulkan! Direct X! GNMX! Metal

Windows 10	Free, Nvidia and AMD	Free, MS	no	no
Mac	Free, MoltenVK	no	no	Free, Apple
Linux	Free	no	no	no
Android	Free	no	no	no
iOS	Free, MoltenVK	no	no	Free, Apple
Tizen	in Development	no	no	no
Sailfish	in Development	no	no	no
Xbox One	no	Free	no	no
Orbis OS (PS4)	no	no	Free	no
Nintendo Switch	Free	no	no	no
HarmonyOS	Free	no	no	no
OpenHarmony	Free	no	no	no

Some APIs use Graphics Library (GL) in their name, notably OpenGL and WebGL.

Examples

• Allegro
• ANGLE
• Cairo (graphics)^[1]
• DFPSR https://dawoodoz.com/dfpsr.html — GUI toolkit and software renderer
• DirectX^[2] — a library created by Microsoft, to run under Windows operating systems and 'Direct' Xbox
• Display PostScript
• emWin^[3] — an Embedded Graphics Library
• FLTK^[4] — GUI Toolkit and Graphics Library
• GTK — a GUI toolkit
• Mesa 3D^[5] — a library that implements OpenGL and Vulkan
• Qt^[6] — cross-platform application framework
• Quartz (graphics layer)
• SFML^[7]
• SIGIL^[8] — Sound, Input, and Graphics Integration Library
• Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL)^[9]
• Skia Graphics Library^[10]
• X Window System

See also

• List of 3D graphics libraries
• Anti-Grain Geometry
• Software development kit (SDK)
• OpenGL ES
• Graphical Widget toolkit graphical control elements drawn on bitmap displays

Notes and References

1. Web site: cairographics.org. cairographics.org. 2016-01-03.
2. Web site: DirectX. DirectX Graphics and Gaming (Windows) - MSDN - Microsoft.
3. Web site: emWin Graphics Library www.LPCware.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20160329073825/https://www.lpcware.com/content/project/emwin-graphics-library. 2016-03-29. dead.
4. Web site: FLTK GUI and Graphics Library www.fltk.org.
5. Web site: The Mesa 3D Graphics Library.
6. Web site: Qt - Home.
7. Web site: SFML.
8. Web site: SIGIL: Sound, Input, and Graphics Integration Library. www.libsigil.com. 2016-06-21.
9. Web site: Simple DirectMedia Layer - Homepage.
10. Web site: Skia Graphics Library.