| # Vulkan Loader |
| |
| This project provides the Khronos official Vulkan Loader for all platforms except [Android](https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/native/+/master/vulkan/) |
| |
| ## Introduction |
| |
| Vulkan is an explicit API, enabling direct control over how GPUs actually work. |
| As such, Vulkan supports systems that have multiple GPUs, each running with a different driver, or ICD (Installable Client Driver). |
| Vulkan also supports multiple global contexts (instances, in Vulkan terminology). |
| The ICD loader is a library that is placed between a Vulkan application and any number of Vulkan drivers, in order to support multiple drivers and the instance-level functionality that works across these drivers. |
| Additionally, the loader manages inserting Vulkan layer libraries, such as validation layers, between an application and the drivers. |
| |
| This repository contains the Vulkan loader that is used for Linux, Windows, MacOS, and iOS. |
| There is also a separate loader, maintained by Google, which is used on Android. |
| |
| The following components are available in this repository: |
| |
| - [ICD Loader](loader/) |
| - [Loader Documentation](docs/LoaderInterfaceArchitecture.md) |
| - [Tests](tests/) |
| |
| ## Contact Information |
| |
| - [Charles Giessen](mailto:charles@lunarg.com) |
| - [Mark Young](mailto:marky@lunarg.com) |
| |
| ## Information for Developing or Contributing |
| |
| Please see the [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) file in this repository for more details. |
| Please see the [GOVERNANCE.md](GOVERNANCE.md) file in this repository for repository management details. |
| |
| ## How to Build and Run |
| |
| [BUILD.md](BUILD.md) includes directions for building all components. |
| |
| Architecture and interface information for the loader is in [docs/LoaderInterfaceArchitecture.md](docs/LoaderInterfaceArchitecture.md). |
| |
| ## Version Tagging Scheme |
| |
| Updates to this repository which correspond to a new Vulkan specification release are tagged using the following format: `v<`_`version`_`>` (e.g., `v1.3.266`). |
| |
| **Note**: Marked version releases have undergone thorough testing but do not imply the same quality level as SDK tags. SDK tags follow the `vulkan-sdk-<`_`version`_`>.<`_`patch`_`>` format (e.g., `vulkan-sdk-1.3.266.0`). |
| |
| This scheme was adopted following the `1.3.266` Vulkan specification release. |
| |
| ## License |
| |
| This work is released as open source under a Apache-style license from Khronos including a Khronos copyright. |
| |
| ## Acknowledgements |
| |
| While this project has been developed primarily by LunarG, Inc., there are many other |
| companies and individuals making this possible: Valve Corporation, funding |
| project development; Khronos providing oversight and hosting of the project. |
