Add the big picture post

Author: kvark

.gitignore

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 _site/
+.sass-cache/
 .DS_Store

_posts/2020-11-16-big-picture.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: The Big Picture
+---
+
+gfx-rs community's goal is to make graphics programming in Rust easy, fast, and reliable.
+In this post, we are going to provide an overview of the projects we work on, how they are connected, and what the future holds for us:
+
+![big picture](/img/wgpu-big-picture.svg)
+
+Full [diagram link](https://viewer.diagrams.net/?highlight=0000ff&edit=_blank&layers=1&nav=1&title=wgpu-big-picture#R7V1tk5s2EP41nmk%2F%2BAYk3vzxXtI0aZrenKe9Jl8yspExPQwuYJ%2Bvv77CIBskgTEGgdNeZjJICDB69tldrVZiBO9Xu%2FchWi9%2FDWzsjYBi70bwYQTARDPI%2F0nFW1qhQz2tcELXTqvUY8XU%2FQdnlUpWu3FtHBUaxkHgxe66WDkPfB%2FP40IdCsPgtdhsEXjFp66Rg7mK6Rx5fO2za8fLtNbSlWP9z9h1lvTJqpKdmaH5ixMGGz97nh%2F4OD2zQvQ2WdNoiezgNfc8%2BG4E78MgiNOj1e4ee0mv0h5Lr%2Fup5OzhJ4fYj%2Btc4H18dh6%2For9%2FHtvbr78%2Bxar2dTU2QXqbLfI2WV98nI59FLtb8h7KM569f%2Fw96eQ1QSJ9jfiN9trr0o3xdI3mSfmVCMYI3i3jlUdKKjm0UbTEdlZYuJ53H3hBuL8ULhYLMJ%2BT%2Bi0OY5cAceu5jk%2FOxUFyF5SV5uTdcJhcHvjxNHtycrsoDoMXnLuhbcwM3SBn%2BG7Jeip5Et6x%2FU8kGgcrHIdvpMmOSm8GWSbNwMjKr0fZUGndMicXtA5l4ugcbn3EhRxk0JwBk2FxMH3uHCOs2jo2W8RoYpgQtYWRUcRItQQY6QKMzBYwQr9vP8cPzz%2B9C55U7%2Bnbt1%2F86YexanCdj22iZbJiEMbLwAl85L071t4daz8FSa%2FuO%2B4vHMdvmZJEmzgoQoZ3bvwnOVay4y%2FJ8Y2elR52uVMPb1mhAHP6M5PfVqpJsqoo2IRzXCWXhhikEHupeBYUtaDHs0sfA5c8%2BgCuxmCr68U7xCh0cJxdxMB2%2BBUXsM0oZ9sfG%2B8F%2Bf81th3sHUUECNhmdsQ2MUYKhxFRhAO0VC30PmR0HYR87wNL0PtWV72vT7jeHwHDi5O%2BdLfk0EkOnzZRfEAkPTsL6UlaQ56fu6RV5Kw5rkCuA6DApAiUwCZBEU6dsQRYw7VJpJvDtz%2FpDZJC7qqkeLxsX6LXpYqOuumgCrmT9ouONfb2pKqdJjSaFxi%2Bi2CFpmRYb4CeQ1ath2sOyi8FJOvgWsnIk7jCuri2Dev%2B0tswRG%2B5BuvEUYkq3B1Gv3MjObY90Kvak4P0F7TqFEFZqqRELYBTeqGJDmpTlxhmr0LHSYnOGCOgMV50%2BkadedFwIllglBuzoHDUugJT1G6KNIkBtc3PINSUrond0FI1petV7btRU7oqSeqaCE9jUZXg4YBBeTg6H5cUDDCe308%2FlY0juMbRZr0mQDceiSQ98wnNsFcUBG4AyI42Vq5t76UsxJH7D5rt75eAmvGN3Fy%2FG%2BkPQpgrZZwbmBwC5NlTRplnUDpgUW5UMMl826bmhjYJFosId2JJ1FJZSMZwBZSMvzcBPTGO9uS9JQ1Ip%2B6OJynEr856kwM%2FvVkJ%2BtESrZNDAg7yPOwFTohWCYg4dMn7JcgXzz0eT9ydGMQu3B2mkyKCcaytY8vWRCEeC8yg0VKIBxqMU6kJQjxAZtBb12Sr8u4HORc4CzUVORyEr6BZbAj3hK8wqWzfja9Qy8bc4e1bTQvRo444xLo4HTGzdE2vFL36OkIDDEpqTR0BW9AR4kkXXa6OUEf1B5dHHXHmSLar2Zq6UZF0JNtbcItjZWKnxyEf1f%2FubbLGTEQLJzm74pvYJkvmW0ObbEoyytpVGWWDncUzqo2yzqp7Q4JR1jj639zcDIn6NUxtcgWlRCbbLWgDNv4i1fqKtQG8Cm0AJGkD%2Faq0ATurfEobsLMUUrSBzmmDz8j3g82VKYQW2A9Z5d07%2B4H0WchGkVYgKdJq1GT%2FMIL57BziqWA%2BnPQQzOfzsKY43AaDIj9ND%2Bo0I5UNzh3KvZHf5KF5%2FPD0x%2Fg%2BDKKz86%2F4vjMnMyWho%2BOhKMqoeUigLnGxohccz5dlMGFjD1MLYADGLYa9j8ro5E0ODR85aFg8yQAox7oNaNgwotk3NEB6ENsctJVU6w6ZBzYhCXlPVBAsdrCPQxQnicLJyhDs2%2FWnJ4l2w2HzRMnhTE9Skb98enJM5BIqVoHSdPQ03OlKICvxReK8lSAk3Sn7zWGRn3dE%2Fyd%2FtfC3Qn6V%2FBXt%2BdC5r8lKP2qYPF1K3dP22GibkuKBJoBa0btWGNesJG3x3AHwwTVknlM2AObaZ1OP3QbD%2BXV%2F9o56RoPkv1bmszfITYKTCbgy%2BssOiJ%2Fv6relMFr09Fs39o0UAqCrKmgCFJRBcD6Osn0ZMr3p7HwL9FYUq9jj4yHxW5xuIla9ktZTmd0sqBKyrz3OCztS64Ph6oQ1%2BZNqk8%2B219vVCGIR4%2FNfiMkXu5VSdEJtqhdFpoI%2FFTpBNY3B6wA%2BQ2EVe33qBXCVekHcUL9QMVwWR%2BehdRa7oaWeIWwthJF0Y27h2aKlSDozySFayyyMpGstRNKFvJMdVStQrJphbTLlUgKUTN8yaJpyd9RQ%2Beg5uSXy%2FpPUYtK4hLsLSU2ivo6czgZJXO0wUpDY0YlPexGGA97ooXUsutaONLQnTTvy0ws2tFXwv3bMhX%2F7W2KicCB8l9S6dNFHPccDSqYWH19D0XJIrFroyT8hq%2FZ%2Fo3Qxa64%2B%2FevGFxHt6yU1X0aT7Yyc74oMMIJuCRWB9Ag6mxinVU%2BpAeXC9hMZEXreODviaM9AIvR0qNXGBLyiXl2IXnZSek%2FW2pJhrQ9J37KsNT%2Fd7XjB65DMdT9OcO8ZxodXOCLzHs9f%2BFT8k73bQ%2Fa8rjLdWTfi0kYsU7ywQbSlCau2fPs22dqclPa7igsy5uk2VHv3MZ8dTwniuf5LVR%2BedBhyPSTaTJnWXZrzU8RHU5l%2BL0n5OXWfA6ay9g0GAlS5XL%2FfprXTAu2Q9OkxLfBk%2B%2F0%2B4FeWMGiU0blBRoFpQVh0V8CA3BXx60sPvhrN9vLUVPOcAOy%2BlDO7%2FAqeVvderD1San0j12YjJUU87i5VbGZl%2B45W3%2FGzoaKs58VunOyrhmau58alW%2BVw1%2F1AfpRy%2B%2Fjhx8ZJz9TILfEOETIw%2Fl9WexBBcL7rx%2B%2Ft3YcvqDIrNQ9fNejNGTT4oNp%2Bixb62ZDvEmspG77oJrMJW%2B%2BLvE3Z%2B2meMZ4ui8iZp0JyFXbosvUtVE3LXwR%2BGcj8xxQesB%2BUszXP7Y%2FTqye3pGGozhhxmaN6YaxswF%2BsEfLjJCm7yzU9GSrr7hs15S9VNMGuj9ZuKbmucWpLMCbkBKB2DK3ufqYN2EaKx%2B%2B4pQgfP5MH3%2F0L).
+
+Legend:
+  - _parallelogram_: Rust node
+  - _rectangle_: C/C++ node
+  - _hexagon_: node in Rust that exposes an external API
+
+Colors correspond roughly to the areas: gfx is blue, wgpu is green, JS stuff is yellow, etc.
+
+## Nodes
+
+[ash](https://github.com/MaikKlein/ash/) - Vulkan bindings we use in _gfx-rs_, external to us.
+
+[metal-rs](https://github.com/gfx-rs/metal-rs) - Metal bindings crate we use in _gfx-rs_, also used outside.
+
+[d3d12-rs](https://github.com/gfx-rs/d3d12-rs) - simple D3D12 convenience wrapper we use in _gfx-rs_.
+
+[winapi](https://github.com/retep998/winapi-rs) - WinAPI bindings we use in _gfx-rs_ for both DX11 and DX12 (where _d3d12-rs_ has gaps), external to us.
+
+[glow](https://github.com/grovesNL/glow) - OpenGL (including ES and WebGL) bindings we use in _gfx-rs_, also used outside.
+
+[gfx-rs](https://github.com/gfx-rs/gfx) - our portable graphics API in Rust, tightly following Vulkan.
+
+[gfx-portability](https://github.com/gfx-rs/portability) - a [Vulkan Portability](https://www.khronos.org/blog/fighting-fragmentation-vulkan-portability-extension-released-implementations-shipping) API wrapper around _gfx-rs_. Can be used as a drop-in Vulkan driver on platforms without native Vulkan support.
+
+[SPIRV-Cross](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/SPIRV-Cross) - shader translation library in C++, taking SPIR-V as an input.  It's developed by a few Khronos members. We currently use it for generating platform-specific shaders in _gfx-rs_. We are phasing it away, replacing by _naga_ gradually (the striped fill signifies deprecation in the diagram).
+
+[naga](https://github.com/gfx-rs/naga) - our new shader translation library in Rust, it has a number of front-ends (SPIR-V, GLSL, and WGSL so far), various backends (SPIR-V, MSL, GLSL so far), and a solid intermediate representation (IR) in the middle. It's a young project, and we are slowly rolling it out to replace the C++ blocks around the ecosystem, such as SPIRV-Cross and glsl-to-spirv/shaderc (used by many gfx/wgpu/Vulkan devs).
+
+[wgpu](https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu) - our implementation of WebGPU API in Rust. It's safe, portable, and fast (in this order).
+  - Uses _gfx-rs_ to reach the hardware.
+  - Uses _naga_ to parse WGSL shaders, as well as introspect both SPIR-V and WGSL shaders. This allows us to validate the shaders, also to derive the implicit bind group layouts.
+  - able to record and replay [API traces](http://kvark.github.io/wgpu/debug/test/ron/2020/07/18/wgpu-api-tracing.html) across platforms.
+
+[wgpu-rs](https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu-rs) - idiomatic Rust bindings to _wgpu_, meant for Rust end-users. Has many dependent [applications and libraries](https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu-rs/wiki/Applications-and-Libraries), including Nannou and Bevy.
+  - Currently able to target _wgpu_ as well as the WebGPU/WASM (experimental in browsers).
+  - Will be able to link to an implementation behind the portable [WebGPU C header](https://github.com/webgpu-native/webgpu-headers), such as _wgpu-native_.
+
+[wgpu-native](https://githubb.com/gfx-rs/wgpu-native) - a wrapper around _wgpu_ that exposes a WebGPU C API conforming to the [shared header](https://github.com/webgpu-native/webgpu-headers). The plan is to have it accessible by non-Rust libraries, as a drop-in replacement for [Dawn](https://dawn.googlesource.com/dawn), also accessible via [NAPI](https://nodejs.org/api/n-api.html).
+
+[Deno](https://github.com/denoland/deno) - JS/TS runtime in Rust. There is a mostly complete [PR #7977](https://github.com/denoland/deno/pull/7977) delivering support for WebGPU via _wgpu_. It should allow native JS/TS applications (such as  _TensorFlow.js_) using WebGPU to run directly on top of _wgpu_ in the future.
+
+[Servo](https://github.com/servo/servo) - an experimental browser engine in Rust. It has WebGPU support via _wgpu_.
+
+[Gecko](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Gecko) - the browser engine powering Firefox, developed by Mozilla. It also implements WebGPU via _wgpu_.