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> as OpenGL amply demonstrated Not really, OpenGL had/has many problems but having a standardized interface isn't one of them (I mean one problem is the incons
by dathinab 5y ago
> as OpenGL amply demonstrated
Not really, OpenGL had/has many problems but having a standardized interface isn't one of them (I mean one problem is the inconsistency between which extensions are available and many extensions being (or at least starting of as) somewhat Vendor specific in practice...)
Sure for technological advancement we will have vendor specific code and you could say we want it.
BUT most applications do not need it. Even many games don't need it. Weather most applications and any non-"AAA"-style games they often want a easy way to have reasonable well working graphics which also continue to work. Sure with such a hypothetical API the "standardized" way will be updated with new features and APIs from time to time and maybe some old features will be deprecated and emulated instead of having native hardware support but due to improvements in hardware software written "back-then" would still work. WebGPU seems to go in the right direction but Apple is messing it up again, but then "works in the Web everywhere but Apple" is something I'm already getting used to.
> It's too slow to adapt to new features because it
Most software just wants a frequently updated stable core set of feature which get adapted after they had been available in non standardized APIs for a while.
> standardized CPU ISAs
Except that ALL ISAs today are standarized, sure with extensions but the part most people use is standardized with each ISA. Weather that's ARM, x86, RISC-V, etc. Standards are what compiler makers and operating system designers rely on when it comes to designing the "generic", "general purpose parts" of their software. I mean hardly anyone would be using e.g. RISC-V if there wouldn't be a standard about how the most "core" instructions are handled.
> It makes sense to have a completely different
For native state of the art highly customized applications, yes. For the rest. No. It's just pain and a lot of additional development cost, and companies hate cost.