- Simple DirectMedia Layer
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Simple DirectMedia Layer 
SDL logoOriginal author(s) Sam Lantinga Developer(s) Sam Lantinga Stable release 1.2.14 / October 19, 2009 Preview release 1.3 / Nightly Written in C Operating system Cross-platform Type API License GNU Lesser General Public License Website www.libsdl.org Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) is a cross-platform, free and open source multimedia library written in C that presents a simple interface to various platforms' graphics, sound, and input devices.
SDL has the word "layer" in its title because it is actually a wrapper around operating-system-specific functions. The main purpose of SDL is to provide a common framework for accessing these functions.
Software developers use it to write computer games or other multimedia applications that can run on many operating systems including Android, AmigaOS, AmigaOS 4, FreeBSD, BeOS/Haiku, iOS, Linux, Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, MorphOS, OpenVMS, PlayStation Portable, Syllable, Symbian, webOS, and Windows. It manages video, events, digital audio, CD-ROM, sound, threads, shared object loading, networking and timers.[1]
Contents
Design
SDL itself is very simple; it merely acts as a thin, cross-platform wrapper, providing support for 2D pixel operations, sound, file access, event handling, timing, threading, and more. It is often used to complement OpenGL by setting up the graphical output and providing mouse and keyboard input, which are beyond the scope of OpenGL.
The library is divided into several subsystems, namely the video (handles both surface functions and OpenGL), audio, CD-ROM, joystick, and timer subsystems. Besides this basic, low-level support, there also are a few separate official libraries that provide some more functions. These comprise the "standard library", and are provided on the official website and included in the official documentation:
- SDL_image — support for multiple image formats
- SDL_mixer — complex audio functions, mainly for sound mixing
- SDL_net — networking support
- SDL_ttf — TrueType font rendering support
- SDL_rtf — simple Rich Text Format rendering
Other, non-standard libraries also exist. For example: SDL_Collide on Sourceforge created by Amir Taaki.
The SDL library has language bindings for many programming languages, from the popular (C, C++, Pascal, Perl, Python (via Pygame), etc.) to the less known (such as Euphoria or Pliant). This, and it being open-source and licensed under the LGPL, makes SDL a common choice for many multimedia applications.
History
Workshop on SDL
Sam Lantinga created the library, first releasing it in early 1998, while working for Loki Software. He got the idea while porting a Windows application to Macintosh. He then used SDL to port Doom to BeOS (see Doom source ports). Several other free libraries were developed to work alongside SDL, such as SMPEG and OpenAL. He also founded Galaxy Gameworks in 2008 to help commercially support SDL.
SDL 1.3 is a major update to the SDL 1.2 codebase. It replaces several parts of the 1.2 API with more general support for multiple input and output options. Some feature additions include multiple window support, multiple input device support (many mice, many keyboards, etc.), hardware-accelerated 2D graphics, and better Unicode support. You can look at the roadmap to get a sense of what needs to be done for the move to SDL 1.3/2.0.[2] SDL 1.3, when finished, will eventually become SDL 2.0.[3] SDL 1.3 also introduces a new licensing option, whereby one can obtain a commercial license to allow closed-source static linking.[4] This opens up possibilities for distribution on platforms that do not allow dynamic linking.[citation needed] .
Ports
Abstraction layers of several SDL platformsBecause of the way SDL is designed, much of the source code is split into separate modules for each operating system, to make calls to the underlying system. When SDL is compiled, the correct modules are selected for the target system.
On Microsoft Windows, SDL uses a GDI backend by default. A DirectX backend is also available. Older versions of SDL used DirectX 5, but SDL 1.2 (the current stable release) requires DirectX 7 by default. Sam Lantinga has stated that he plans to use DirectX 8 in future SDL releases.[5]
On X Window System platforms, including Linux and OpenVMS, SDL uses Xlib to communicate with the X11 system for graphics and events.
Syntax and subsystems
The syntax of SDL is function-based: all operations done in SDL are done by passing parameters to functions. Special structures are also used to store the specific information SDL needs to handle. There are a few different subsystems SDL categorizes its functions under:
- The video, events and threads subsystem: this provides functions for video, multi-threading, and event handling
- The audio subsystem: this provides functions for audio
- The time subsystem
- The joystick subsystem
- The CD-ROM subsystem
See also
- List of games using SDL
- Allegro library
- Cross-Platform Support Middleware
- DirectX
- General Graphics Interface
- OpenGL
- OpenML
- pygame
Further reading
- Alberto García Serrano: Programación de videojuegos en SDL, Ediversitas, ISBN 8495836084 (spanish)
- Ernest Pazera: Focus On SDL, Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade, ISBN 1592000304
- Ron Penton: Data Structures for Game Programmers, Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade, ISBN 1931841942 (game programming examples with SDL)
- John R. Hall: Programming Linux Games, No Starch, ISBN 1886411492 (First SDL book, by Loki Games, archived online version: PDF, LaTex sources)
References
- ^ "SDL official website". Libsdl.org. http://www.libsdl.org. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
- ^ "SDL 1.3 Roadmap". 14 June 2011. http://wiki.libsdl.org/moin.cgi/Roadmap. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ "FAQs: General". 10 October 2009. http://wiki.libsdl.org/moin.cgi/FAQGeneral#What.27s_up_with_SDL_2.0.3F_Can_I_help.3F. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
- ^ "Licensing the Simple DirectMedia Layer library". April 7, 2011. http://www.libsdl.org/license.php. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
- ^ "SDL mailing list". Libsdl.org. http://lists.libsdl.org/pipermail/sdl-libsdl.org/2000-December/013908.html. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
External links
Video games ported by Loki Software Strategy Civilization: Call to Power · Heroes of Might and Magic III · Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns · Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri · Myth II: SoulblighterFirst person shooters Simulations Other games Eric's Ultimate Solitaire · Descent³ (Mercenary) · Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.² · Heretic II · Postal Plus · Rune (Halls of Valhalla) · MindRover: The Europa ProjectOther articles Scott Draeker · Sam Lantinga · Ryan C. Gordon · Simple DirectMedia Layer · OpenAL · GtkRadiant · Deus Ex · linux installers for linux gamers · Tux GamesCategories:- Application programming interfaces
- Audio libraries
- C libraries
- Cross-platform software
- Graphics libraries
- Video game development
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