Introduction

DirectX is an application programming interface (API) developed by Microsoft to enable programmers to leverage the power of many different types of hardware with a uniform programming interface. It contains components that deal with all aspects of multimedia including graphics, sound, and input. In this book, we will look at techniques for programming three-dimensional (3-D) graphics using DirectX 11 and Visual Studio 2012. The version of Visual Studio used throughout the book is the Windows 8 version of Visual Studio Express 2012.

A background of C++ is assumed, and this book is designed as a follow up to the previous book in the series (Direct2D Succinctly), which mostly looked at two-dimensional (2-D) graphics. We will look at the basics of DirectX and 3-D graphics, communicating with the GPU and loading 3-D model files. We will look at texture mapping, high-level shading language (HLSL), and lighting. We will also look at how to read and respond to user input via a mouse, keyboard, and touchscreen.

We will put it all together, including information on Direct2D from the previous book, and create the beginnings of a simple 3-D game.