There are many different types of graphics APIs available today. Each comes with its own pros and cons, making them suitable for different use cases or projects in general.
This article covers the key differences between two increasingly popular APIs: SDL2 and OpenGL. While not technically a replacement for each other, they are constantly being compared. Both are used for rendering graphics on screen, but each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Which one should you use for your specific project? Let’s take a look…
What is SDL2?
SDL stands for Simple DirectMedia Layer, which is a cross-platform library used to make games and other interactive media. It is written in C and can be used on many operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD. SDL works with C++ natively but also supports C#, Eiffel, Guile, Go, Lua, Python, and others.
The SDL library is distributed under the zlib license, allowing users to freely use it in their software. It provides low-level access to various media through a simple C API. Various applications use SDL2 to handle input, video, and audio. It also supports various technologies such as OpenGL and Direct3D.
SDL2 allows you to transfer pixels from one surface to another quickly and efficiently. This process is known as blitting, and it enables artists to create complete images from pre-drawn graphics. The artist can then blit the entire image to the screen with just a single operation. SDL also allows for fast blits between different pixel formats.
It’s used by many game developers, and there’s a large community around it making it easy to use and understand, which makes it a good choice for beginners and experts alike.
What is OpenGL?
OpenGL is a programming language used in computer graphics. It’s powerful enough to handle any visual element on the screen, including embedded video and vector graphics. It’s also widely used for UI animations. It’s also useful for handling big data. It’s fast enough to handle most visual elements and is especially useful for rendering 3D graphics.
Compared to DirectX, OpenGL is easier to use and supports more platforms. This makes it the better choice for game development. Nevertheless, developers must be aware that OpenGL is more flexible than DirectX. Fortunately, many game development engines like Unity work with both OpenGL and DirectX. This makes it easy for game developers to switch between the two.
OpenGL is also a great way to learn to program graphics. While OpenGL isn’t a language, it is a good API to learn if you are new to the field. Its low-level nature makes it suitable for many platforms, including mobile devices. It also makes it possible to develop games that run on non-Windows platforms. Unreal 4 and Unity3D are two examples of these types of games.
OpenGL is a cross-platform API for 3D graphics. It was developed by Silicon Graphics in 1991 and released on June 30, 1992. AMD later donated the Mantle API to the Khronos Group and renamed it Vulkan. The OpenGL architecture review board regularly standardized OpenGL extensions. Some of these extensions become core features of future revisions.
OpenGL vs SDL2: Which API Is Better?
Now, while one is not technically better than the other, one will be better depending on your goals. Let’s now look at some key differences between OpenGL and SDL2 to determine which one is better.
SDL2
SDL2 is a great library for creating 2D games. It can handle user input, audio, images, and textures. It’s quick and easy to set up and allows users to create a game from scratch pretty quickly!
What SDL2 can’t do is manipulate the graphics pipeline or perform hardware-accelerated drawing. For instance, if you want to apply effects on your sprites and textures you’ll have to do so by direct pixel access in RAM by manipulating your surface and reuploading it to your texture.
OpenGL
OpenGL is a graphics library powerful enough to handle any visual element on the screen, including embedded video and vector graphics. The API allows programmers to access the vertex shader, tessellation, geometry shader, and fragment shader in the graphics pipeline.
OpenGL is used for graphics and you’ll have to use another library if you wanted to incorporate audio or user inputs. This makes OpenGL both limiting but very focused (and efficient) at what it is trying to achieve.
Should You Use SDL2 or OpenGL?
These two APIs are both great for making games and other interactive media.
If you’re a beginner, SDL2 is probably the better choice because it’s easier to understand and work with. It’s a great way to start learning how to make your own game without the use of a major gaming engine, like Unity.
However, if you know how to program, you can do graphics programming with OpenGL that you can’t with SDL2.
For example, OpenGL lets create customer shaders and effects inside game engines or from scratch. Additionally, once you have learned SDL2 you can include OpenGL in your project to have better graphic capabilities.
In short, use SDL2 if you need audio and input capabilities and OpenGL if you’re interested in creating custom shaders and graphics.
Summary
The article discusses the key differences between SDL2 and OpenGL and determines which one is better for your specific project.
For projects that are using 2D graphics and do not require customer shaders or effects, SDL2 is the best for the project. It also gives the programmer audio and user input capabilities giving you the whole package to make a game.
On the other hand, OpenGL is the best choice for computer graphics and visualization which SDL2 simply can’t do.
So while SDL2 is great for simple 2D games that require audio and input, OpenGL is great for advanced graphics programming.
So which one should you use? It depends on your specific project. But, using both gives you a complete package for game development.
Let us know what libraries you use in your projects in our Discord, we’d love to hear!