In this video from ITFreeTraining, I will have a look at graphics APIs. Graphics APIs provide a standardized way for software to access 3D hardware. Nowadays, the software handles access to the APIs very transparently; however, having an understanding of how they work and what they do may help you troubleshoot problems.

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Application Programming Interface
To start with, I will first look at what is an Application Programming Interface or API. An API is essentially an interface that defines interactions between software. Rather than attempt to explain what it is, let’s consider some examples.

Let’s say that you have a user that runs some software that displays 3D models. In order for the software to do this, the software calls other software to do it. In this case, it calls the API. Think of the API like a tool kit. It essentially takes highlevel requests and processes them.

In this example, the 3D models are transferred to the API to be processed. The API handles the

highlevel request. A highlevel request is essentially more task driven and is implemented to get a task done rather than specify how it should be done. A lowlevel request is essentially the steps involved. For example, if you wanted to clean a room, the highlevel request would be to clean the room. There may be some guidance there, for example there can’t be anything on the floor or everything needs to be packed away. Lowlevel functions would be the steps involved like picking up an item and putting it away.

The 3D engine being used will perform a lot of the functions such as reading the 3D models from storage. It may also need to convert them to a structure the API understands. Since the API is like a toolkit, it may do further conversion of the data provided, so for example, breaking it down into smaller parts for the next step. The API may also do tasks like scheduling the requests for processing. In this case, the API may send the 3D different models to three different threads for processing.

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References
“The Official CompTIA A+ Core Study Guide (Exam 2201001)” Chapter 5 Position 128 132
“CompTIA A+ Certification exam guide. Tenth edition” Pages 784 – 785
“Vulkan (API)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulkan_...)
“OpenGL” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL'>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL
“DirectX” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX
“Getting Started” https://www.khronos.org/opengl/wiki/G...
“OpenGL” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL'>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL
“Vulkan (API)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulkan_...)
“Mantle (API)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantle_...)
“Steam Hardware & Software Survey: April 2020” https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurv...
“Metal (API)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_(API)
“Molten VK” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoltenVK
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“Picture: Windows Logo” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
“Picture: MacOS” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ma...
“Picture: DirectX logo” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Di...
“Picture: Nvidia image logo ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nv...
“Picture: AMD Logo” https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
“Picture: OpenGL logo (Nov14).svg” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Op...
“Picture: Russian Matroshka” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryos...
“Picture: Vulkan Logo” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
“Picture: AMD Mantle Logo” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
“Picture: Steam OS” https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%8A%...
“Picture: Android new logo” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
“Picture: Apple Metal logo” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
“Picture: Molten VKLogoBanner” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mo...

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Trainer: Austin Mason http://ITFreeTraining.com
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