Managed DirectX (MDX) is
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
's deprecated API for
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direc ...
programming on
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
. MDX can be used from any language on .NET Framework (via the
Common Language Runtime
The Common Language Runtime (CLR), the virtual machine component of Microsoft .NET Framework, manages the execution of .NET programs. Just-in-time compilation converts the managed code (compiled intermediate language code) into machine instruc ...
). MDX can be used to develop multimedia and interactive applications (e.g. games, compiled only to
x86), enabling high performance graphical representation and enabling the programmer to make use of modern graphical hardware while working inside the .NET Framework.
Overview
Managed DirectX was first released in 2002 to allow less complicated access to the DirectX API through the .NET framework. The Managed DirectX SDK allows developers access to numerous classes which allow the rendering of 3D graphics (
Direct3D
Direct3D is a graphics application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows. Part of DirectX, Direct3D is used to render three-dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D uses hardware ...
) and the other DirectX API's in a much easier, object-oriented manner. MDX, however, does not support the newer APIs such as Direct3D 10,
XInput, and
XAudio 2.
MDX is deprecated in favor of
XNA Game Studio Express. It is, however, possible to use some other, more direct APIs to the DirectX framework such as the open-source SlimDX and
SharpDX project.
Versions
MDX 1.1
* This was the first version available and still is the current stable version.
* Can be used under .NET Framework versions 1.1 and 2.0.
* Provides an object-oriented API that implements functionality very similar to DirectX 9.
MDX 2.0 beta
* Was canceled while still in beta. Is no longer available.
* MDX 2.0 was replaced by
Microsoft XNA
Microsoft XNA (a recursive acronym for XNA's not acronymed) is a freeware set of tools with a managed runtime environment that Microsoft developed to facilitate video game development. XNA is based on .NET Framework, with versions that run on Wi ...
(DirectX New Architecture).
* The API differed from MDX 1.1 in a number of places.
External links
Microsoft Development Centre DirectXMDX info
{{Microsoft APIs
Video game development software
DirectX
Microsoft development tools
2002 software