Nine Steps to Vulkan Literacy What the powerful new 3D graphics API can bring to your applications

16.02.2016 Sean Harmer No comments

No, this isn’t about Star Trek. If you’ve accidentally stumbled onto this blog to learn about the language of Spock’s homeland, try here instead.

Vulkan (spelled with a “k”, not a “c”) is a powerful new 3D graphics API from the Khronos Group, the same consortium that developed its spiritual predecessor, OpenGL, and other related standards. Like OpenGL, Vulkan targets high-performance real-time 3D graphics applications such as games and interactive media, but offers higher performance and lower CPU usage, much like Direct3D 12 and Metal. It provides a variety of advantages over these other APIs..

If you’re not yet fully up to speed on Vulkan, download our whitepaper for a quick-start primer on the nine things you need to know about this shiny new API as it hits the streets (February 16th).

Sean Harmer is a senior software engineer at KDAB where he heads up our UK office and also leads the 3D R&D team. He has been developing with C++ and Qt since 1998 and is Qt 3D Maintainer and lead developer in the Qt Project. Sean has broad experience and a keen interest in scientific visualization and animation in OpenGL and Qt. He holds a PhD in Astrophysics along with a Masters in Mathematics and Astrophysics.