Managed DirectX
Encyclopedia
Managed DirectX is an API to DirectX
programming under .NET developed by Microsoft
. MDX can be used from any language under the .NET runtime (via the CLR
).
MDX can be used to develop multimedia and interactive applications (e.g. games, compiled only to x86), enabling high performance graphical representation and enabling the programmer to make use of modern graphical hardware while working inside the .NET framework.
Managed DirectX was first released in 2002 to allow less complicated access to the DirectX API through the .NET framework. The Managed DirectX SDK allows developers access to numerous classes which allow the rendering of 3D graphics (Direct3D) and the other DirectX API's in a much easier, object-oriented manner. MDX, however, does not support the newer APIs such as Direct3D 10
, XInput, and XAudio 2.
MDX is currently deprecated in favour of XNA Game Studio Express
. It is, however, possible to use some other, more direct APIs to the DirectX framework such as the open-source SlimDX
and SharpDX
project.
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
programming under .NET developed by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. MDX can be used from any language under the .NET runtime (via the CLR
Common Language Runtime
The Common Language Runtime is the virtual machine component of Microsoft's .NET framework and is responsible for managing the execution of .NET programs. In a process known as just-in-time compilation, the CLR compiles the intermediate language code known as CIL into the machine instructions...
).
MDX can be used to develop multimedia and interactive applications (e.g. games, compiled only to x86), enabling high performance graphical representation and enabling the programmer to make use of modern graphical hardware while working inside the .NET framework.
Managed DirectX was first released in 2002 to allow less complicated access to the DirectX API through the .NET framework. The Managed DirectX SDK allows developers access to numerous classes which allow the rendering of 3D graphics (Direct3D) and the other DirectX API's in a much easier, object-oriented manner. MDX, however, does not support the newer APIs such as Direct3D 10
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
, XInput, and XAudio 2.
MDX is currently deprecated in favour of XNA Game Studio Express
Microsoft XNA
Microsoft XNA is a set of tools with a managed runtime environment provided by Microsoft that facilitates video game development and management. XNA attempts to free game developers from writing "repetitive boilerplate code" and to bring different aspects of game production into a single system...
. It is, however, possible to use some other, more direct APIs to the DirectX framework such as the open-source SlimDX
SlimDX
SlimDX is an open-source API to DirectX programming under .NET. SlimDX can be used from any language under the .NET runtime .SlimDX can be used to develop multimedia and interactive applications...
and SharpDX
SharpDX
SharpDX is an open-source platform independent Managed DirectX API for the .NET. This new API is directly auto-generated from DirectX C++ SDK Headers and the generated code is purely written in C# without using any C++/CLI assemblies, while still being able to achieve comparable performance.The API...
project.
MDX 1.1
- This was the first version available and still is the current stable version.
- Can be used under .NET Framework versions 1.1 and 2.0.
- Provides an object-oriented API that implements functionality very similar to DirectX 9.
MDX 2.0 beta
- Was canceled while still in beta. Is no longer available.
- MDX 2.0 was replaced by Microsoft XNAMicrosoft XNAMicrosoft XNA is a set of tools with a managed runtime environment provided by Microsoft that facilitates video game development and management. XNA attempts to free game developers from writing "repetitive boilerplate code" and to bring different aspects of game production into a single system...
. - The API differed from MDX 1.1 in a number of places.