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{{Short description|Free software multimedia library}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

factoids

qualifiersingleP348P577}}Linux as gaming platform#APIs>Linux (e.g. SteamOS), Windows, {{nobriOS 3.1.3+}}, {{nobrTITLE=OH LOOK, WE'LL HAVE OFFICIAL TVOS SUPPORT IN SDL 2.0.5, FOR PEOPLE THAT WANT THEIR SDL-BASED GAMES ON APPLE TV!, {{nobrFreeBSD 8.4+}}, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 2, Haiku, RISC OS 3.5+SDL/DOCS/README-RISCOS.MD AT 9D83C0A65D969A902C91F4F94FD5A904C0828A33 · LIBSDL-ORG/SDL >URL=HTTPS://GITHUB.COM/LIBSDL-ORG/SDL/BLOB/9D83C0A65D969A902C91F4F94FD5A904C0828A33/DOCS/README-RISCOS.MD WEBSITE=GITHUB, en, Additionally before v2.0.0: e.g. AmigaOS and MorphOS, and consoles (PlayStation, XBox, Wii, etc), Nintendo DS| platform = C (programming language)>Capplication programming interface>APIzlib License Before 2.0.0:GNU Lesser General Public License>GNU LGPLHTTP://WWW.LIBSDL.ORG/LICENSE.PHP >TITLE=SDL LICENSE, 3 March 2014, weblink}}}}Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) is a cross-platform software development library designed to provide a hardware abstraction layer for computer multimedia hardware components. Software developers can use it to write high-performance computer games and other multimedia applications that can run on many operating systems such as Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows.WEB,weblink a list of the platforms SDL supports, Libsdl.org, 9 April 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160401091424weblink">weblink 2016-04-01, SDL manages video, audio, input devices, CD-ROM, threads, shared object loading, networking and timers.WEB,weblink SDL official website, Libsdl.org, 19 March 2010, For 3D graphics, it can handle an OpenGL, Vulkan,WEB,weblink CategoryVulkan - SDL Wiki', wiki.libsdl.org, 2019-05-05, Metal, or Direct3D11 (older Direct3D version 9 is also supported) context. A common misconception is that SDL is a game engine. However, the library is suited to building games directly, or is usable indirectly by engines built on top of it.The library is internally written in C and possibly, depending on the target platform, C++ or Objective-C, and provides the application programming interface in C, with bindings to other languages available.WEB,weblink SDL Language Bindings, libsdl.org, Simple DirectMedia Layer, 13 August 2014, It is free and open-source software subject to the requirements of the zlib License since version 2.0, and with prior versions subject to the GNU Lesser General Public License. Under the zlib License, SDL 2.0 is freely available for static linking in closed-source projects, unlike SDL 1.2.WEB,weblink Licensing the Simple DirectMedia Layer library, 30 January 2012, SDL 2.0, released in 2013, was a major departure from previous versions, offering more opportunity for 3D hardware acceleration, but breaking backwards-compatibility.SDL is extensively used in the industry in both large and small projects. Over 700 games, 180 applications, and 120 demos have been posted on the library website.WEB, 2010-06-29, Simple DirectMedia Layer,weblink 2021-08-07,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100629004347weblink">weblink 29 June 2010,

History

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).WEB,weblinkweblink SDL: Making Linux fun, Sam, Lantinga, Sam Lantinga, 1999-09-01, 2023-12-15, 2003-05-11, IBM, 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, although the company plans are currently on hold due to time constraints.WEB, Exploring the Galaxy,weblink 6 April 2011, 30 January 2012, Soon after putting Galaxy Gameworks on hold, Lantinga announced that SDL 1.3 (which would then later become SDL 2.0) would be licensed under the zlib License.SDL 1.3 to be zLib Licensed, SDL Mailing List, 7 April 2011 Lantinga announced SDL 2.0 on 14 July 2012, at the same time announcing that he was joining Valve, the first version of which was announced the same day he joined the company.WEB,weblink SDL 2.0 Is Coming Very Soon With New Features, 17 August 2012, Lantinga announced the stable release of SDL 2.0.0 on 13 August 2013.Announcing SDL 2.0.0, SDL Mailing List, 13 August 2013SDL 2.0 is a major update to the SDL 1.2 codebase with a different, not backwards-compatibleMigrationGuide - SDL Wiki'. Wiki.libsdl.org (21 November 2013). Retrieved on 2013-12-08. API. 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, hardware-accelerated 2D graphics, and better Unicode support.WEB,weblink SDL 1.3 Roadmap, 14 June 2011, 25 July 2011, Support for Mir and Wayland was added in SDL 2.0.2WEB,weblink Some of Linux's Most Popular Games Will Run Natively On Mir, Joey-Elijah, Sneddon, 5 February 2014, 19 March 2014, and enabled by default in SDL 2.0.4.WEB,weblink SDL 2.0.4 Changelog, Sam, Lantinga, 2 January 2016, 6 January 2016, Version 2.0.4 also provided better support for Android.WEB,weblink SDL_SysWMinfo,

Software architecture

SDL is a wrapper around the operating-system-specific functions that the game needs to access. The only purpose of SDL is to provide a common framework for accessing these functions for multiple operating systems (cross-platform).WEB,weblink Introduction to SDL, 3 March 2014, SDL provides support for 2D pixel operations, sound, file access, event handling, timing and threading. It is often used to complement OpenGL by setting up the graphical output and providing mouse and keyboard input, since OpenGL comprises only rendering.A game using the Simple DirectMedia Layer will not automatically run on every operating system; further adaptations must be applied. These are reduced to the minimum, since SDL also contains a few abstraction APIs for frequent functions offered by an operating system.The syntax of SDL is function-based: all operations done in SDL are done by passing parameters to subroutines (functions). Special structures are also used to store the specific information SDL needs to handle. SDL functions are categorized under several different subsystems.

Subsystems

SDL is divided into several subsystems:WEB,weblink APIByCategory,

Basics: Initialization and Shutdown, Configuration Variables, Error Handling, Log Handling

Video: Display and Window Management, surface functions, rendering acceleration, etc.

Input Events: Event handling, Support for Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick and Game controller

Force Feedback: SDL_haptic.h implements support for "Force Feedback"

Audio: SDL_audio.h implements Audio Device Management, Playing and Recording

Threads: multi-threading: Thread Management, Thread Synchronization Primitives, Atomic Operations

Timers: Timer Support

File Abstraction: Filesystem Paths, File I/O Abstraction

Shared Object Support: Shared Object Loading and Function Lookup

Platform and CPU Information: Platform Detection, CPU Feature Detection, Byte Order and Byte Swapping, Bit Manipulation

Power Management: Power Management Status

Additional: Platform-specific functionality

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 formatsWEB,weblink SDL_image 2.0, libsdl.org, 19 July 2014,
• SDL_mixer — complex audio functions, mainly for sound mixingWEB,weblink SDL_mixer 2.0, libsdl.org, 19 July 2014,
• SDL_net — networking supportWEB,weblink SDL_net 2.0, libsdl.org, 19 July 2014,
• SDL_ttf — TrueType font rendering supportWEB,weblink SDL_ttf 2.0, libsdl.org, 19 July 2014,
• SDL_rtf — simple Rich Text Format renderingWEB,weblink SDL_rtf 0.1, libsdl.org, 19 July 2014,

Other, non-standard libraries also exist. For example: SDL_Collide on SourceForge created by Amir Taaki.

Language bindings

The SDL 2.0 library has language bindings for:{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

• Ada
• Beef
• C
• C++
• C
• Common LispWEB,weblink cl-sdl2, GitHub, 23 November 2017,
• D
• FortranWEB, GitHub,weblink f03sdl2, 2019-10-28,
• GambasWEB, Gambas Wiki,weblink gb.sdl2, 2023-02-02,
• Genie
• GoWEB,weblink Go + Julia + Fourier = Open Source Frequon Invaders, Arch D., Robison, November 9, 2015, software.intel.com, en, 2019-08-02,
• HaskellWEB,weblink SDL on Hackage, WEB,weblink SDL2 on Hackage,
• Java (e.g. JSDL)
• JuliaWEB, Bieler, Jonathan, jonathanBieler/SimpleDirectMediaLayer.jl, GitHub, 2020-07-30,weblink 2020-08-08, WEB, SquidSinker, Example games for GameZero.jl, GitHub, 2020-08-02,weblink 2020-08-08, WEB, Daly, Nathan, Example game written in julia using SDL2, GitHub, 2019-07-31,weblink 2019-08-02,
• Lua
• NimWEB,weblink SDL2 for Nim, GitHub, 31 May 2022,
• OCaml
• Pascal
• Perl (via SDL)WEB,weblink PerlGameDev/SDL, GitHub, 20 February 2019,
• PHPWEB,weblink PHP-SDL, GitHub, 2019-10-28,
• Python (several, e.g. pygame_sdl2 and sdl2hl)
• RakuWEB,weblink SDL2::Raw, modules.raku.org, 15 May 2020,
• RingBOOK,weblink Beginning Ring Programming - From Novice to Professional {{!, Mansour Ayouni {{!}} Apress|language=en}}WEB,weblink Using RingLibSDL — Ring 1.16 documentation,
• Rust
• Vala

{{div col end}}

Supported back-ends

(File:SDL Layers.svg|thumb|Abstraction layers of several SDL platforms)Because of the way SDL is designed, much of its source code is split into separate modules for each operating system, to make calls to the underlying system. When SDL is compiled, the appropriate modules are selected for the target system. The following back-ends are available:

• GDI back-end for Microsoft Windows.
• DirectX back-end; older SDL 1.2 uses DirectX 7 by default, while 2.0 defaults to DirectX 9 and can access up to DirectX 11.
• Quartz back-end for macOS (dropped in 2.0).
• Metal back-end for macOS / iOS / tvOS since 2.0.8; older versions use OpenGL by default.WEB,weblink 28 September 2020, WhatsNew.txt, WEB,weblink 7 December 2017, [Commits] SDL: Enable building the Metal renderer by default, and weak lin...,
• Xlib back-end for X11-based windowing system on various operating systems.WEB,weblink SDL: README-platforms.txt@3e2f230a6d62, Hg.libsdl.org, libsdl.org, 2013-12-08,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131215031050weblink">weblink 2013-12-15,
• OpenGL contexts on various platforms.WEB,weblink Using OpenGL With SDL, 2015-07-09,
• EGL back-end when used in conjunction with Wayland-based windowing system.,WEB,weblink SDL and Wayland, Raspberry PiWEB,weblink Raspberry Pi Support Added To SDL2 Library, Michael, Larabel, 30 September 2013, and other systems.
• Vulkan contexts on platforms that support it.
• sceGu back-end, a Sony OpenGL-like backend native to the PSP.

An unofficial Sixel back-end is available for SDL 1.2.WEB,weblink SDL 1.2 Sixel, GitHub, 2016-04-09, The Rockbox MP3 player firmware also distributes a version of SDL 1.2, which is used to run games such as Quake.WEB,weblink SDLPluginPort, 2019-08-11,

Reception and adoption

File:SDL-Workshop-IMG 2612.jpg|thumb|Workshop on SDL, University of CádizUniversity of CádizOver the years SDL was used for many commercial and non-commercial video game projects. For instance, MobyGames listed 120 games using SDL in 2013,WEB,weblink Middleware: SDL Group Description, Games that use the very portable Simple DirectMedia Layer., 27 September 2013, 18 May 2012, MobyGames, and the SDL website itself listed around 700 games in 2012.WEB,weblink Games, 18 May 2012, 18 May 2012, libsdl.org, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100629004347weblink">weblink 29 June 2010, dmy-all, Important commercial examples are Angry Birds,WEB,weblink SDL Testimonials, Galaxygameworks.com, 1 February 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110716163841weblink">weblink 16 July 2011, Unreal Tournament, and games developed using Valve's Source Engine, which uses SDL extensively for cross-platform compatibility; ones from the open-source domain are OpenTTD,WEB,weblink Development, OpenTTD, 19 March 2010, The Battle for WesnothWEB,weblink CompilingWesnoth, Wesnoth, 27 February 2010, 19 March 2010, or Freeciv.WEB,weblink SDLClient - Freeciv.org, Freeciv.wikia.com, 19 March 2010, The cross-platform game releases of the popular Humble Indie Bundles for Linux, Mac and Android are often SDL-based.SDL is also often used for later ports on new platforms with legacy code. For instance, the PC game Homeworld was ported to the Pandora handheldWEB,weblink Game of the Week #3 – Homeworld SDL, 23 June 2011, pandorapress.net, 8 May 2012, may88, [...] released port of HomeworldSDL. Forum member Edglex enables your Pandora to experience the excellent work done by the guys at HomeworldSDL., and Jagged Alliance 2 for AndroidJA2 Stracciatella Feedback » Jagged Alliance 2 Android Stracciatella Port RC2 Release - please test {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023085701weblink|date=23 October 2012}} on the Bear's Pit Forum, 3 October 2011 via SDL.Also, several non video game programs use SDL; examples are the emulators, such as DOSBox, FUSE ZX Spectrum emulator and VisualBoyAdvance.There were several books written for development with SDL (see further readings).SDL is used in university courses teaching multimedia and computer science, for instance, in a workshop about game programming using libSDL at the University of Cadiz in 2010, or a Game Design discipline at UTFPR (Ponta Grossa campus) in 2015.

Video game examples using SDL

File:Unknown horizons 3176.PNG|Unknown HorizonsWEB,weblink Features · fifengine/fifengine Wiki · GitHub, GitHub, 9 March 2015, File:Hwscreen.png|HedgewarsWEB,weblink FAQ Hedgewars, hedgewars.org, 3 October 2014, ...SDL >= 1.2.5..., File:Scorched 3D 39.1 screenshot 3.jpg|Scorched 3DWEB,weblink Development Details, scorched3d.co.uk, 3 October 2014, ...Simple DirectMedia Layer - SDL for cross platform game windowing..., dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141006090704weblink">weblink 6 October 2014, dmy-all, File:Fretsonfirex1.jpg|Frets on FireWEB,weblink About the game, 20 September 2021, File:OOlite Mac OS X screenshot.jpg|OoliteWEB,weblink OOlite SDL Dependencies, GitHub, 29 May 2016, 21 September 2021, File:Wesnoth-1.6-5.jpg|The Battle for WesnothWEB,weblink Roadmap - Wesnoth, www.wesnoth.org, 9 March 2015, File:OpenTTD-1.3.3-en.png|OpenTTDFile:0 A.D. alpha 25 - playing as Spartans.jpg|0 A.D.WEB,weblink New Release: 0 A.D. Alpha 19 Syllepsis, November 26, 2015, 20 September 2021, Linux users, please be advised that SDL2 is now enabled by default on Linux., File:SMC15PromoShot.png|Secret Maryo ChroniclesWEB,weblink Secret Maryo Chronicles, sourceforge.net, 28 August 2014, 3 October 2014, ... based on SDL ..., File:Trine - Wizard Knight Caverns.jpg|TrineFile:Trine 2 - Deadly Dustland Three Heroes.jpg|Trine 2WEB, Frozenbyte Support,weblink 2020-09-01, trine2.com, File:Teeworlds.png|TeeworldsWEB,weblink [HowTo] Compile 0.7 on windows (Page 1) — Development — Teeworlds Forum,

See also

{hide}div col |colwidth=15em|content=

• Allegro
• ClanLib
• Cross-platform support middleware
• DirectFB
• General Graphics Interface
• GLFW
• OpenML
• Pygame
• Raylib
• Ren'Py
• SFML
• SVGAlib

{edih}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Further reading

• Alberto García Serrano: Programación de videojuegos en SDL, Ediversitas, {{ISBN|84-95836-08-4}} (Spanish)
• Ernest Pazera: Focus On SDL, Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade, {{ISBN|1-59200-030-4}}
• Ron Penton: Data Structures for Game Programmers, Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade, {{ISBN|1-931841-94-2}} (game programming examples with SDL)
• John R. Hall: Programming Linux Games, No Starch, {{ISBN|1-886411-49-2}} (First SDL book, by Loki Games, archived online version: {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030122200047weblink |date=22 January 2003 |title=PDF }}, {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030214004255weblink |date=14 February 2003 |title=LaTex sources }})

External links

• {{official website}}