The Khronos Vulkan API is an explicit, low-overhead, cross-platform graphics and compute API. Vulkan provides applications with control over the system execution and the system memory to maximize application efficiency on a wide variety of devices from PCs and consoles to mobile phones and embedded platforms.
The Vulkan SDK enables Vulkan developers to develop Vulkan applications. It includes:
- Vulkan API usage validation thanks to the Khronos Validation layer.
- Vulkan Layers configuration thanks to Vulkan Configurator.
- SPIR-V Shader compilation, optimization and validation tools such as slang, DXC, SPIRV Reflect, and SPIRV-cross. See the SPIR-V Toolchain document for a complete list of the tools included.
- Vulkan API capture and replay for Vulkan debugging thanks to GFXReconstruct.
- Vulkan Capabilities Viewer. The new and perfered way to identify your devices capabilities, and contribute to an open source database of GPU capabilities.
- Third-party libraries and tools such as GLM, SDL, Volk, and VMA.
