APIs

• Graphics Device Interface (GDI) is the original graphics interface for 16-bit Windows.
  • GDI can only produce aliased graphics.
• GDI+ was introduced in Windows XP as a successor to GDI.
  • GDI+ can render anti-aliased graphics, but only in software.
• Direct2D is the successor to both GDI and GDI+.
• DirectWrite is a text layout and rasterization engine.

Overview

• Lightweight COM library
• Built on top of Direct3D
• Support for hardware acceleration on the GPU
• Immediate rendering
• Support for SVG vector graphics that can be scaled to arbitrary dimensions
• Can be used with Direct3D, DirectWrite, Windows Imaging Component (WIC), and XAML
• Win2D is a WinRT wrapper of Direct2D and DirectWrite

<aside> 📜 The latest revision is Direct2D 1.3, released in 2015.

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<aside> 📜 Direct2D was originally built using Direct3D 10.1. Direct2D 1.3 is using Direct3D 11.1.

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<aside> 💡 Direct2D uses a left-handed coordinate system: positive x-axis values proceed to the right and positive y-axis values proceed downward.

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Device

A device is an abstraction that represents a hardware device that uses the GPU.

Factory

To use Direct2D, you need to create a factory represented by the ID2D1Factory interface.