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...which is only a problem on Linux though (turns out that system-wide shared locations for headers and linker libraries are not a great idea). Most Slang users will probably be on Windows, and apart from that there's also most likely not much overlap with S-Lang users.
Okay, so I didn't know that, I just noticed that it is impossible to have a system-wide installation of both libraries…
I've been very impressed by Slang as an open source project. The development team is quick to respond to issues and review pull requests. It's clear from their repository and their presentations that they take Slang seriously as a user-facing project, not a research demo.
It isn't weird it started inside NV and folks from there are still working on the project.
I have to wonder how this fits in with other shader technologies that seem to have overlapping purposes. (There's Khronos' own Spir-V, SDL's SDLSL, Three's TSL, and WebGPU's WGSL) The reflection and automatic differentiation look interesting, I just wish I understood better what problems they're trying to solve. I actually think WebGPU/WGSL will and should become ubiquitous, though it's a shame it's not more C/GLSL-l…
IMHO Slang fixes two problems in one tool: - the frontend language is mostly compatible with HLSL, which is the defacto shader authoring standard in the gamedev industry - it compiles to the 'shader language/bytecode zoo' of the different 3D APIs (since recently even WGSL/WebGPU) So it lets you author your shaders in a single language that's already accepted by most of the industry, and target the various 3D APIs (D3…
I hope this becomes the standard way of writing shaders across all platforms. There is no compelling reason for having to use WGSL, HLSL, GLSL or Metal C++. Having one single feature-complete language is a huge QoL improvement.
Of course, the f16 extension immediately weakens that, and demonstrates that this situation probably won’t last.
I hope this becomes the standard way of writing shaders across all platforms. There is no compelling reason for having to use WGSL, HLSL, GLSL or Metal C++. Having one single feature-complete language is a huge QoL improvement.
I hope this becomes the standard way of writing shaders across all platforms. There is no compelling reason for having to use WGSL, HLSL, GLSL or Metal C++. Having one single feature-complete language is a huge QoL improvement.
I think there is a compelling reason to have WGSL as a separate language (but maybe not sufficiently compelling): WebGPU is a lowest common denominator which can only have features which are in the intersection of its target platforms, and so WGSL has no “dead syntax” to memorize. If the language spec says it’s there, you can use it, and you won’t find examples online of code that just won’t work in WebGPU because of…
I hope this becomes the standard way of writing shaders across all platforms. There is no compelling reason for having to use WGSL, HLSL, GLSL or Metal C++. Having one single feature-complete language is a huge QoL improvement.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think there is a compelling reason to have WGSL as a separate language (but maybe not sufficiently compelling): WebGPU is a lowest common denominator which can only have features which are in the intersection of its target platforms, and so WGSL has no “dead syntax” to memorize. If the language spec says it’s there, you can use it, and you won’t find examples online of code that just won’t work in WebGPU because of…
It must not last, because any API that is the common denominator between 10 year old mobile SOCs and current year high end desktop GPUs is doomed to do injustice to either platform.
Also of importance, the Slang initiative supported by Khronos: https://www.khronos.org/news/press/khronos-group-launches-sl...