After seven months of development, the release of the SDL 2.28.0 (Simple DirectMedia Layer) library has been published, aimed at simplifying the writing of games and multimedia applications. The SDL library provides tools such as hardware-accelerated output for 2D and 3D graphics, input handling, sound playback, 3D output via OpenGL/OpenGL ES/Vulkan, and many other related operations. The library is written in C and is distributed under the Zlib license. Necessary bindings are provided to use SDL features in projects across various programming languages.
The SDL 2.28.0 release mainly offers bug fixes, with new features including SDL_HasWindowSurface() and SDL_DestroyWindowSurface() for switching between the SDL_Renderer and SDL_Surface APIs, a new SDL_DISPLAYEVENT_MOVED event generated when the primary monitor changes or the relative screen positions change in multi-monitor configurations, and the SDL_HINT_ENABLE_SCREEN_KEYBOARD hint for controlling the display of the on-screen keyboard.
At the same time, it was announced that the SDL 2.x branch will be transitioned to maintenance mode, which will only involve bug fixes and problem resolution. No new functionality will be added to the SDL 2.x branch, and development will focus on preparing for the release of SDL 3.0. Work is also ongoing on the sdl2-compat compatibility layer, providing an API compatible with the binary and source code of SDL 2.x, but operating on top of SDL 3. The sdl2-compat package will serve as a complete replacement for SDL 2 and is suitable for running programs written for SDL 2, utilizing the capabilities of the SDL 3 branch.
Changes in the SDL 3 branch include a complete overhaul of certain subsystems, breaking changes in the API, and a significant cleanup of outdated features that have lost relevance in modern contexts. For instance, SDL 3 is expected to provide a complete redesign of the audio handling code, default use of Wayland and PipeWire, discontinuation of OpenGL ES 1.0 and DirectFB support, and removal of code for outdated platforms such as QNX, Pandora, WinRT, and OS/2.
Source: opennet.ru
