Vulkan & OpenGL Differences

When setting up a shaded triangle, Vulkan offers several features and concepts that are either absent or significantly different from OpenGL. Here are some key differences:

1. Explicit Control

Vulkan: Provides explicit control over GPU resources and operations. You need to manage and allocate resources like memory, command buffers, and synchronization primitives directly.
OpenGL: Abstracts much of this complexity. It handles resource management for you, making it easier for developers but less flexible for advanced use cases.

2. Command Buffers

Vulkan: Uses command buffers to record rendering commands before submitting them to the GPU. You can record commands once and execute them multiple times, allowing for better performance optimization.
OpenGL: Commands are issued immediately and not recorded for later execution. This can be less efficient, especially in complex rendering scenarios.

3. Multiple Queues

Vulkan: Supports multiple queues for different operations (graphics, compute, transfer). You can use these queues in parallel to optimize performance.
OpenGL: Generally operates on a single command queue, meaning that all rendering commands are submitted sequentially.

4. Pipeline Creation

Vulkan: Requires explicit pipeline creation for each shader stage and configuration. This process can be cumbersome but allows for fine-tuned optimization and custom behavior.
OpenGL: Simplifies pipeline management. You can bind shaders and set states with fewer API calls, which makes setup quicker and more straightforward.

5. Synchronization

Vulkan: Provides detailed synchronization control using semaphores and fences. This allows you to manage resource access and rendering operations more precisely.
OpenGL: Uses simpler synchronization mechanisms. It abstracts the synchronization process, which can lead to issues like implicit synchronization overhead.

6. Resource Binding

Vulkan: Requires explicit binding of resources (like buffers and textures) to the pipeline, which can lead to better performance through optimization.
OpenGL: Uses a more implicit model for resource binding, where resources can be bound and unbound more flexibly but can introduce overhead.

7. Shader Modules

Vulkan: Utilizes shader modules that compile GLSL (or SPIR-V) into an intermediate representation. This approach provides more control over shader compilation and linking.
OpenGL: Shaders are compiled and linked at runtime, which is easier but provides less flexibility in optimizing shader performance.

8. Render Passes

Vulkan: Uses render passes to define the structure of rendering operations, allowing for more control over how framebuffer attachments are managed and used.
OpenGL: Does not have an explicit concept of render passes; instead, it relies on simpler framebuffer attachments and operations.

Summary

Vulkan provides more control, flexibility, and optimization opportunities compared to OpenGL, but at the cost of complexity. This makes Vulkan better suited for high-performance applications, while OpenGL is often preferred for simpler applications due to its ease of use and abstraction.
If you're setting up a shaded triangle in Vulkan, you'll need to manage more details, such as command buffer creation, resource binding, and synchronization, which are mostly handled automatically by OpenGL.

Shaded Triangle Steps

OpenGL Steps

+--------------------------------------+
|           OpenGL Application         |
|         (Setup and Initialization)  |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Create Shader Program        |
|     GLuint shaderProgram = glCreateProgram(); |
|     glAttachShader(shaderProgram, vertexShader); |
|     glAttachShader(shaderProgram, fragmentShader); |
|     glLinkProgram(shaderProgram);     |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Setup Vertex Array Object    |
|     GLuint VAO;                      |
|     glGenVertexArrays(1, &VAO);      |
|     glBindVertexArray(VAO);          |
|     glGenBuffers(1, &VBO);           |
|     glBindBuffer(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, VBO); |
|     glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, sizeof(vertices), vertices, GL_STATIC_DRAW); |
|     glVertexAttribPointer(0, 3, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, 5 * sizeof(float), (void*)0); |
|     glEnableVertexAttribArray(0);    |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|           Draw Call                 |
|     glUseProgram(shaderProgram);     |
|     glBindVertexArray(VAO);          |
|     glDrawArrays(GL_TRIANGLES, 0, 3);|
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|           Framebuffer                |
|     SwapBuffers(window);             |
+--------------------------------------+

Vulkan Steps

+--------------------------------------+
|           Vulkan Application         |
|         (Setup and Initialization)  |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Create Instance              |
|     vkCreateInstance(&instanceInfo, &instance); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Create Device                |
|     vkCreateDevice(instance, &deviceCreateInfo, &device); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Create Shader Modules        |
|     vkCreateShaderModule(device, &vertShaderInfo, &vertShaderModule); |
|     vkCreateShaderModule(device, &fragShaderInfo, &fragShaderModule); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Create Graphics Pipeline      |
|     vkCreateGraphicsPipelines(device, &pipelineInfo, &pipeline); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Create Vertex Buffer         |
|     vkCreateBuffer(device, &bufferCreateInfo, &vertexBuffer); |
|     vkBindBufferMemory(device, vertexBuffer, vertexBufferMemory); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Allocate Command Buffer      |
|     vkAllocateCommandBuffers(device, &allocInfo, &commandBuffer); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Record Command Buffer        |
|     vkBeginCommandBuffer(commandBuffer, &beginInfo); |
|     vkCmdBindPipeline(commandBuffer, VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_GRAPHICS, graphicsPipeline); |
|     vkCmdBindVertexBuffers(commandBuffer, 0, 1, &vertexBuffer, offsets); |
|     vkCmdDraw(commandBuffer, 3, 1, 0, 0); |
|     vkEndCommandBuffer(commandBuffer); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|         Submit Command Buffer        |
|     vkQueueSubmit(graphicsQueue, 1, &submitInfo, VK_NULL_HANDLE); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|           Render Pass                |
|      vkBeginRenderPass(commandBuffer, &renderPassInfo); |
+--------------------------------------+
                 |
                 v
+--------------------------------------+
|           Framebuffer                |
|      vkEndRenderPass(commandBuffer); |
|      vkQueuePresentKHR(presentQueue, &presentInfo); |
+--------------------------------------+

1. Initialize Vulkan

Create a Vulkan Instance:
- Use vkCreateInstance to create a Vulkan instance. This is the starting point for any Vulkan application and contains information about the application and the Vulkan API version.

2. Select a Physical Device

Enumerate Physical Devices:
- Use vkEnumeratePhysicalDevices to find available physical devices (GPUs) on the system.
Select a Suitable Device:
- Choose a physical device that supports the features and queues you need (like graphics, compute, etc.).

3. Create a Logical Device

Create Logical Device:
- Use vkCreateDevice to create a logical device that allows your application to interact with the physical device. Specify the queue types needed, such as a graphics queue.

4. Create a Swap Chain

Choose Swap Chain Parameters:
- Determine the swap chain's surface format, presentation mode, and extent.
Create Swap Chain:
- Use vkCreateSwapchainKHR to create the swap chain, which handles presenting images to the screen.

5. Create Image Views

Create Image Views:
- For each image in the swap chain, create an image view using vkCreateImageView. This allows Vulkan to access the images in the swap chain.

6. Create Render Pass

Define Render Pass:
- Use vkCreateRenderPass to create a render pass that defines how framebuffer attachments (color, depth, etc.) are used during rendering.

7. Create Framebuffers

Create Framebuffers:
- For each image view in the swap chain, create a framebuffer using vkCreateFramebuffer. This links the image views with the render pass.

8. Create Shaders

Load Shader Code:
- Load the vertex and fragment shader code, typically written in GLSL or HLSL.
Create Shader Modules:
- Use vkCreateShaderModule to create shader modules for both the vertex and fragment shaders.

9. Create Graphics Pipeline

Define Graphics Pipeline:
- Use vkCreateGraphicsPipelines to create the graphics pipeline. This involves specifying the shader stages, fixed-function state (like viewport, rasterization, blending), and the render pass.

10. Create Vertex Buffer

Create Buffer:
- Use vkCreateBuffer to create a vertex buffer that holds the triangle's vertex data (positions, colors, etc.).
Allocate Memory:
- Allocate memory for the vertex buffer using vkAllocateMemory and bind it using vkBindBufferMemory.
Copy Data:
- Map the memory, copy the vertex data into it, and unmap the memory.

11. Create Command Buffers

Allocate Command Buffers:
- Use vkAllocateCommandBuffers to allocate command buffers for recording commands.

12. Record Commands

Begin Command Buffer:
- Use vkBeginCommandBuffer to start recording commands in the command buffer.
Begin Render Pass:
- Use vkCmdBeginRenderPass to start the render pass.
Bind Graphics Pipeline:
- Use vkCmdBindPipeline to bind the graphics pipeline.
Bind Vertex Buffer:
- Use vkCmdBindVertexBuffers to bind the vertex buffer.
Draw Command:
- Use vkCmdDraw to issue the draw command for the triangle.
End Render Pass:
- Use vkCmdEndRenderPass to finish the render pass.
End Command Buffer:
- Use vkEndCommandBuffer to finalize the command buffer.

13. Submit Command Buffer

Submit to Queue:
- Use vkQueueSubmit to submit the recorded command buffer to the graphics queue for execution.

14. Presenting the Image

Present the Frame:
- Use vkQueuePresentKHR to present the rendered image from the swap chain to the screen.

15. Cleanup

Cleanup Resources:
- Destroy resources in the reverse order of their creation, such as pipelines, framebuffers, swap chains, and the Vulkan instance.