What is DirectX

Probably, there is no such user of the Windows operating system, who at least once did not ask the question "What is DirectX?". The answer to it is both simple and complex. It all depends on which side to look at: a simple user or a programmer.

In order to understand what DirectX is, we will mentally make a short excursion into the past or, to be more precise, in the glorious reign of the DOS system (MS-DOS). This is now a serious technological breakthroughs in the field of computer technology are rare. Obviously, an extensive path of development prevails now , when the number of cores in the central processors increases, SLI systems for video, Raid for disks and multi-channel access to RAM are offered. Choosing a monitor or video card, no one now is interested in what they are standard.

Ten or two years ago everything was different: there were monitors CGA, EGA, VGA and even Tandy c Hercules. Do not lag behind them and video cards. Yes, and sound solutions were very different: Sound Blaster, Covox, PC Speaker, etc. Now imagine a programmer who decided to write a program. Since the work with the components of the computer was carried out by direct access to the right addresses, it had to provide all possible combinations of components. The work was still the same, although with successful execution the program's performance became colossal.

At the same time, the Win 95 system appeared, and its creators seriously thought about the ways of popularization. Because of the kernel's characteristics, direct work with addresses (as it was in DOS) has become impossible. So we came to what is DirectX. Programmers were offered a unique tool - DirectX. This is a set of system libraries (files), designed to provide interaction with the equipment. Now the program does not need to determine which video card is installed in the computer - it's enough to set a command using a certain call, and if the operating system can work with it, then the application will get the requested access. That is, to display the point on the screen, you do not need to know the programming features of this video adapter, but simply by the rules of DirectX specify "display point by coordinates." Anyone who is interested in what DirectX is, knows that the libraries (API) by destination are divided into Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectSound, etc. In addition, there are different versions: from 1 to 11.1, and, importantly, they are compatible from top to bottom.

The question "How to install DirectX 11?" Is often asked. This version is one of the last. By default it is installed in Win Vista SP2 and higher. In the newest Win 8 is already running 11.1. Installation in Win XP is officially impossible, although there are rumors of a successful partial adaptation. If the message "An internal SystemX error has occurred" or the game does not start, you can try to update the installed version of DirectX. To do this, it is recommended to do the following: go to the Microsoft site in the downloads section, type "DirectX" in the search bar, download a small file for the required version (about 300 KB) and start it. Missing files will be automatically downloaded and installed.

You can determine the version used: open the Start menu, type Dxdiag in the search bar and press Enter. All the necessary data will be shown in the appeared window. Fans of modern games can be advised to install a Seven or even Win 8 - in them, support for DirectX 11 is "out of the box."

A fair question - why do we need new versions? Imagine a situation where a programmer, for example, gives a command in the API API application "draw a light blue oval." It will be executed when two requirements are satisfied: the video card understands this command, it is registered in the DirectX version. If everything is clear with the hardware component (indicated on the box), then the second item requires an explanation. The command "draw a light blue oval" can be supported only in 11 versions, and in 10 for the formation of this image requires two commands: "draw a light blue circle and stretch it to the oval." It's that simple.