Simple DirectMedia Layer 1

Simple DirectMedia Layer

LogoDeveloper(s) Sam Lantinga

Stable release 1.2.14 / October 19, 2009

Written in C

Operating system Cross-platform

Type API

License GNU Lesser General Public License

Website http:/ / www. libsdl. org/

Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) is a cross-platform, free and open source software multimedia library written inC that presents a simple interface to various platforms' graphics, sound, and input devices. Software developers use itto write computer games or other multimedia applications that can run on many operating systems includingWindows, Mac OS X, OS 9, Linux, the PSP, Google Android, AmigaOS, AmigaOS 4, Haiku/BeOS, MorphOS,OpenVMS, Syllable, and WebOS. It manages video, events, digital audio, CD-ROM, sound, threads, shared objectloading, networking and timers.[1]

History

Workshop on SDL

Sam Lantinga created the library, first releasing it in early 1998, whileworking for Loki Software. He got the idea while porting a Windowsapplication to Macintosh. He then used SDL to port Doom to BeOS(see Doom source ports). Several other free libraries were developed towork alongside SDL, such as SMPEG and OpenAL. He also foundedGalaxy Gameworks [2] in 2008 to help commercially support SDL.[3]

The SDL library has bindings for a substantial number of programminglanguages, from the popular (C++, Perl, C, Python (through pygame),Pascal etc.) to the less known (such as Euphoria or Pliant). This, andthe fact that it is open-source and licensed under the LGPL, make SDLa common choice for many multimedia applications.

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 upthe 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 separateofficial libraries that provide some additional functionality. These comprise the "standard library", and are providedon 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

Simple DirectMedia Layer 2

• SDL_ttf - TrueType font rendering support• SDL_rtf - simple Rich Text Format rendering

SDL 1.3SDL 1.3 is a major update to the SDL 1.2 codebase. It replaces several parts of the 1.2 API with more generalsupport for multiple input and output options. Some feature additions include multiple window support, multipleinput device support (many mice, many keyboards, etc.), hardware-accelerated 2D graphics, and better Unicodesupport.[4]

SDL 1.3 also introduces a new licensing option, whereby one can obtain a commercial license to allow closed-sourcestatic linking. This opens up possibilities for distribution on platforms that do not allow dynamic linking.

Architecture

Abstraction layers of several SDL platforms.

SDL has the word "layer" in its title because it isactually a wrapper around operating-system-specificfunctionality. The chief purpose of SDL is to provide acommon framework for accessing this functionality.

Because of the way SDL is designed, a lot of the sourcecode is split into separate modules for each operatingsystem, in order to make calls to the underlying system.When SDL is compiled, the correct modules areselected for the target system.On Microsoft Windows, SDL uses a GDI backend bydefault. A DirectX backend is also available. Older versions of SDL used DirectX 5, but SDL 1.2 (the current stablerelease) requires DirectX 7 by default. Sam Lantinga has stated that he plans to use DirectX 8 in future SDLreleases.[5]

On X11 platforms, including Linux and OpenVMS, SDL uses Xlib to communicate with the X11 system forgraphics and events.On Mac OS X, SDL uses Quartz.

Syntax and subsystemsThe 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 differentsubsystems SDL categorizes its functions under:• The Video, events and threads subsystem - this provides functionality for video, multi-threading, and event

handling.• The Audio subsystem - this provides audio functionality.• The Time subsystem• The Joystick subsystem• The CD-ROM subsystem

Simple DirectMedia Layer 3

Gallery

OpenTTD[6] The Battle for Wesnoth[7] Freeciv[8] Oolite[9]

Extensionslibsdl.org Library List [10]

• Guichan [11], ParaGUI [12], SdlWidgets [13], Agar [14], SDLTk [15], SAGGUI [16] - Widget sets• glSDL [17] - OpenGL backend for SDL (hardware accelerated blits, scaling, and rotation)• SDL OpenVMS [18] - libSDL library set for OpenVMS port by Alexey Chupahin.• SMPEG [19] - Video playback• SDL_ffmpeg [20] - Audio / Video - Encoding and Decoding• SDL_gfx [21], SPriG [22], SGE [23], SAgl [24] - Graphics primitives rendering and other effects• libcrtxy [25] - Vector graphics• Audiality [26] - Audio engine• FastEvents [27] - Enhanced event processing• Net2 [28] - SDL_Event-based networking• SFont [29], BFont, DFont, NFont [30] - Bitmap font rendering• PolyFonts [31] - TTF rendering• Crank Storyboard Suite [32] - User Interface Builder• SDL Collide - Collision detection

References[1] "SDL official website" (http:/ / www. libsdl. org). Libsdl.org. . Retrieved 2010-03-19.[2] http:/ / www. galaxygameworks. com/[3] About Galaxy Gameworks (http:/ / www. galaxygameworks. com/ about. html)[4] "SDL: A Quick Introduction to SDL 1.3" (http:/ / www. thegrumpyprogrammer. com/ node/ 13). The Grumpy Programmer (http:/ / www.

thegrumpyprogrammer. com). 29 June 2009. . Retrieved 7 February 2010.[5] "SDL mailing list" (http:/ / lists. libsdl. org/ pipermail/ sdl-libsdl. org/ 2000-December/ 013908. html). Libsdl.org. . Retrieved 2010-03-23.[6] "Development" (http:/ / www. openttd. org/ en/ development). OpenTTD. . Retrieved 2010-03-19.[7] "CompilingWesnoth" (http:/ / wesnoth. org/ wiki/ CompilingWesnoth#Prerequisites). Wesnoth. 2010-02-27. . Retrieved 2010-03-19.[8] "SDLClient - Freeciv.org" (http:/ / freeciv. wikia. com/ wiki/ SDLClient). Freeciv.wikia.com. . Retrieved 2010-03-19.[9] "Oolite" (http:/ / oolite. org). Oolite.org. . Retrieved 2010-03-19.[10] http:/ / www. libsdl. org/ libraries. php[11] http:/ / guichan. sourceforge. net[12] http:/ / www. nongnu. org/ paragui/[13] http:/ / thelas. dk/ index. php/ SdlWidgets[14] http:/ / libagar. org/[15] http:/ / developer. berlios. de/ projects/ sdltk/[16] http:/ / saggui. sourceforge. net/[17] http:/ / olofson. net/ mixed. html[18] http:/ / fafner. dyndns. org/ ~alexey/ libsdl/ public. html[19] http:/ / www. icculus. org/ smpeg/[20] http:/ / www. arjanhouben. nl/ SDL_ffmpeg/[21] http:/ / www. ferzkopp. net/ joomla/ content/ view/ 19/ 14/

Simple DirectMedia Layer 4

[22] http:/ / code. bluedinosaurs. com/ SPriG. html[23] http:/ / www. etek. chalmers. se/ ~e8cal1/ sge/[24] http:/ / sourceforge. net/ projects/ sagl[25] http:/ / libcrtxy. sourceforge. net/[26] http:/ / audiality. org/[27] http:/ / gameprogrammer. com/ fastevents/ fastevents1. html[28] http:/ / gameprogrammer. com/ net2/ net2-0. html[29] http:/ / user. cs. tu-berlin. de/ ~karlb/ sfont/[30] http:/ / code. bluedinosaurs. com/ NFont. html[31] http:/ / gameprogrammer. com/ polyfonts/ polyfonts. html[32] http:/ / www. cranksoftware. com/ products/ crank_storyboard_suite. php

External links• The SDL Documentation (http:/ / www. libsdl. org/ cgi/ docwiki. cgi/ FrontPage)

Article Sources and Contributors 5

Article Sources and ContributorsSimple DirectMedia Layer  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=399486134  Contributors: ARC Gritt, Adam majewski, Adriatikus, Ahruman, Amenzix, Analoguedragon,AnonMoos, Audiofish, Austin Hair, Av pete, Ballaballa7, BenjaminNeale, Billkendrick, Brian.edmond, ChaoticXSinZ, Chargh, Cmh, Conti, Conversion script, Creidieki, Csabo, Cspan64,DOSGuy, Dejvid, Diablo-D3, Dissident, Druiloor, Dylan Lake, Emperorbma, Eric B. and Rakim, Evercat, Evil saltine, Fadookie, Flamingspinach, FleetCommand, Frap, Frecklefoot, Fredrik,Fresheneesz, Furrykef, Gamester17, George Leung, Germ, Goa103, Graue, GrimFang4, Guyjohnston, Gwern, Hashar, Himasaram, Isilanes, IvanLanin, Jdandr2, Jendave, Jerkychew, Kanzure,Khalid hassani, Kiand, Kl4m-AWB, Koenige, LOL, Lan56, Lasse.nielsen.dk, Lazyfoo, Liftarn, LittleDan, Lzur, Madd the sane, Marasmusine, Marko75, MattGiuca, Mekong Bluesman,Mikemsd, Mimir, Minority Report, Moskvax, Mrwojo, Oni Lukos, Oscarthecat, Pampas Cat, Podgod, Pokeman, Polluks, Pph, Qeed, Qutezuce, Radagast83, Raffaele Megabyte, RichFarmbrough, RobertoPP, Rogerd, Rursus, SF007, Scarfy, Scott Paeth, Shimei, Sietse Snel, SimenH, Sladen, SourSW, Splatg, The Anome, Thumperward, Thunderbrand, Timsoft, TuringBirds,Viniciusjarina, ViperSnake151, Wayne Hardman, Wickedpedia0, Witchinghour, WpZurp, Xandi, Yono, Youssefsan, Ysangkok, 141 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:Sdl-logo.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sdl-logo.png  License: unknown  Contributors: Evercat, Pbroks13, Stannered, Woohookitty, YsangkokFile:SDL-Workshop-IMG 2612.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:SDL-Workshop-IMG_2612.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors:TheOm3gaImage:SDL Layers.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:SDL_Layers.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Original uploader was Adriatikus at en.wikipediaImage:OpenTTD-screenshot.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:OpenTTD-screenshot.png  License: GNU General Public License  Contributors: user:wolfenSilvaImage:Wesnoth-1.6-5.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wesnoth-1.6-5.jpg  License: GNU General Public License  Contributors: Battle for Wesnoth development teamImage:Freeciv-2.1.0-beta3-sdl slack11.0.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Freeciv-2.1.0-beta3-sdl_slack11.0.png  License: GNU General Public License Contributors: Bayo, Qwm, Raphael FreyImage:OOlite_Mac_OS_X_screenshot.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:OOlite_Mac_OS_X_screenshot.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: User:Ahruman,User:BetacommandBot

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unportedhttp:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/