SDL_BeginGPUComputePass(3)

✨ SDL_BeginGPUComputePass ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the SDL3 FUNCTIONS corner of the manual, where we're gonna talk about SDL_BeginGPUComputePass — the girl whose whole job is starting a compute pass on a command buffer. she's the opening act. the main character energy is real. 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

SDL_BeginGPUComputePass — begins a compute pass on a command buffer. no cap, that's literally it. 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

#include <SDL3/SDL_gpu.h>

SDL_GPUComputePass * SDL_BeginGPUComputePass(
    SDL_GPUCommandBuffer *command_buffer,
    const SDL_GPUStorageTextureReadWriteBinding *storage_texture_bindings,
    Uint32 num_storage_texture_bindings,
    const SDL_GPUStorageBufferReadWriteBinding *storage_buffer_bindings,
    Uint32 num_storage_buffer_bindings);

look at her. five parameters. iconic. 🫶

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so a compute pass is defined by a set of texture subresources and buffers that compute pipelines are allowed to write to. and these textures and buffers? they must have been created with the COMPUTE_STORAGE_WRITE bit or the COMPUTE_STORAGE_SIMULTANEOUS_READ_WRITE bit. no bit, no entry. 🚫

and here's the thing: if you do not create a texture with COMPUTE_STORAGE_SIMULTANEOUS_READ_WRITE, then you must not read from that texture inside the compute pass. like, at all. periodt.

every single operation related to compute pipelines has to happen inside a compute pass. that's the whole vibe. and you must not begin another compute pass, or a render pass, or a copy pass before ending the compute pass. one at a time, bestie, we are not multitasking here. 😭

🚨 A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE 🚨 — Reads and writes in compute passes are NOT implicitly synchronized. ngl this is the scary part. this means you may cause data races by both reading and writing a resource region in a compute pass, or by writing multiple times to a resource region. 😱 if your compute work depends on reading the completed output from a previous dispatch, you MUST end the current compute pass and begin a new one before you can safely access the data. otherwise you will receive unexpected results. fr fr, don't skip this step. 💀

also: reading and writing a texture in the same compute pass is only supported by specific texture formats. make sure you check the format support! 🔍

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🎀 FUNCTION PARAMETERS 🎀

• command_buffer — a command buffer. that's it, that's the whole description. she's lowkey mysterious like that. ✨
• storage_texture_bindings — an array of writeable storage texture binding structs. 🌸
• num_storage_texture_bindings — the number of storage textures to bind from the array. count 'em. 🧮
• storage_buffer_bindings — an array of writeable storage buffer binding structs. 💜
• num_storage_buffer_bindings — the number of storage buffers to bind from the array. again: count 'em. 🧮

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👑 RETURN VALUE 👑

Returns a compute pass handle. slay. 🫶

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🌈 AVAILABILITY 🌈

This function is available since SDL 3.2.0. she's not new new, she's established. 💅

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• SDL_EndGPUComputePass(3) — the other half of the story. you will be calling her, bestie. no skipping the ending. 🎬

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and that's the whole page!! go forth and synchronize your reads and writes properly, i'm begging you. 🙈💖

— with love from the Simple Directmedia Layer girlies, SDL 3.4.18 edition** 🎀✨🦋