Get Started with DirectX

Unlock the power of hardware-accelerated graphics on Windows.

Welcome to DirectX Development

DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. This section will guide you through the initial steps of setting up your development environment and creating your first DirectX application.

Whether you're developing games, high-performance graphics applications, or complex visualizations, DirectX provides the tools and performance you need.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

A Windows development machine (Windows 10 or later recommended).
An integrated development environment (IDE) such as Visual Studio.
The Windows SDK, which includes the DirectX headers and libraries.

Setting up Visual Studio

The easiest way to get started is by using Visual Studio. Make sure to select the "Desktop development with C++" workload during installation, which includes necessary components for DirectX development.

Download Visual Studio

Your First DirectX App: A Step-by-Step Guide

Project Setup

Create a new project in Visual Studio. Choose a "Blank Project" or "Windows Desktop Application" template for C++. Ensure you configure the project properties to use the appropriate C++ standard and character set.

In your project's properties, under "C/C++" > "General", set "Character Set" to "Use Unicode Character Set".

Include DirectX Headers

Include the necessary DirectX header files in your source code. The primary header for modern DirectX development is d3d12.h.


#include <windows.h>

#include <wrl.h>

#include <dxgi1_6.h>

#include <d3d12.h>

#include <d3dcompiler.h>

#include <DirectXMath.h>

Initialize DirectX Device

This involves creating a DirectX device, which represents your graphics hardware. You'll typically use D3D12CreateDevice.

Here's a simplified example:


// Simplified Device Initialization (Conceptual)

Microsoft::WRL::ComPtr<ID3D12Device> pd3dDevice;

D3D12CreateDevice(

    pAdapter, // Your chosen IDXGIAdapter

    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_11_0, // Minimum feature level

    IID_PPV_ARGS(pd3dDevice.GetAddressOf())

);

Create a Swap Chain

A swap chain manages the presentation of rendered frames to the screen. It links your application's back buffer to the display.

This typically involves using DXGI factory to create the swap chain.


// Simplified Swap Chain Creation (Conceptual)

Microsoft::WRL::ComPtr<IDXGIFactory4> dxgiFactory;

CreateDXGIFactory1(IID_PPV_ARGS(&dxgiFactory));


Microsoft::WRL::ComPtr<IDXGISwapChain3> m_dxgiSwapChain;

dxgiFactory->CreateSwapChain(

    pd3dDevice.Get(),

    &swapChainDesc, // YourSwapChainDesc

    m_dxgiSwapChain.GetAddressOf()

);

Render Your First Frame

The rendering pipeline involves command lists, command allocators, and command queues to send drawing commands to the GPU.

You'll clear the screen, draw some basic geometry, and present the frame.

Next Steps & Resources

Continue your DirectX journey with these valuable resources:

DirectX Tutorials: Detailed guides on specific graphics techniques.
DirectX Samples: Explore working code examples.
DirectX Graphics Concepts: In-depth explanations of core graphics principles.
DirectX Graphics Overview: A high-level view of the DirectX graphics stack.