Why do we use SDL with C & C++?

In this video you will learn *why* we choose to include and use the SDL library in our C & C++ projects.

Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform development library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, and graphics hardware via OpenGL and Direct3D. It is used by games, video playback software, emulators, and many other applications including several AAA titles.

SDL officially supports Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, and Android (other supported platforms may be found in the source code).

SDL is written in C, works natively with C++, and there are bindings available for several other languages, including C# and Python. It is the most popular platform for multi-plarform game development.

One of the great aspects of using SDL in gamedev projects is that SDL 2.0 is distributed under the zlib license, which allows you to use SDL freely in any software.

We will learn why we need to use SDL to guarantee that our projects are portable and run smoothly regardless of the operating system or machine that the students are running.

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Enjoy!

[chastitywhiterose]

I have used Raylib, SDL, Allegro, and SFML in the past. They are all good. However one of the benefits of SDL seems to be the incredible speed at which it compiles and runs. It’s a smaller library and because it contains less, it can be easier to learn and debug. I like SDL for the same reason I like C. The simplicity.

[GaryChike]

I've subscribed to almost all your courses Gustavo. You're an excellent instructor! Keep up the good work! :)

[PebblesChan]

In a nutshell, SDL is essentially a GUI version of stdio.

[uanbu]

This is an excellent video and an abundance of information from my perspective as a beginner C++ programmer. Thank you Gustavo!

[saibalaji]

SDL helped me to make homebrew games for Orginal Xbox and Nintendo switch 😄

[syntaxed]

In short: SDL allows communication with OS through a unified interface that works across platforms - No need to write your app 3 times for windows, linux and mac.

[Plrang]

I love to have the access to a hardware, that's the most fun for me. I started when that was the only option. Nowadays I have fun with some emulators or retro computers. Although prototyping in JS or C

[Goldy]

pikuma, thank you so much for this explanation! Much appreciated!

[noros-troll]

Thank you! This is something that’s been confusing to me. I’m more interested in audio than making games, and I was puzzled about why I had to use a graphics/game programming library to code audio. Maybe it will be easier now. Have a good day!

[samuelazeredoo]

Que maravilha achar esse canal! Sou estudante de Ciência da Computação e quero trabalhar como programador para jogos um dia! Great video!

[hanelyp]

Even back when we could directly access hardware from user level software, without an operating system abstraction our software had to know the hardware. CGA, EGA, VGA, or something else for video? What kind of sound hardware?

[llamasarus]

I've only been marginally productive in C# and the MonoGame framework. And considering how I dont know C++, I dont know why I'm tempted to use SDL. I guess I have no game design ideas, I just want to learn game programming!

[GoFuncYourself]

Nice clean simple explanation, thanks for that

[mp-kqvc]

Do you have a course that would apply to my desire to create (in C and SDL) a wireframe dungeon crawler similar to Akalabeth? I've never understood to do such a thing when everyone has different screen resolutions. In other attempts, I've done it by line drawing to fixed positions (like on an Apple II). Thanks for reading. Cheers!

[lucabrito]

Esse sotaque eu reconheço de longe. Salve, Gustavo!

[martinfinch]

What's the difference between sdl and libraries like opengl? Is it that opengl only handles graphics and sdl can handle sound graphics input etc?

[visitor_t-wp]

I subscribed and liked..realy thank you so much.. for clearing m concept

[astrah]

SDL2, what is it good for?

True Answer: Everything.

[chastitywhiterose]

It is possible to get SDL working with msys2 on Windows to have a basic Linux compiling environment within Windows. That’s how I bypassed Visual Studio and could still compile SDL programs.

[loudthattrack]

thanks for the video, now i want to code games 💫💫💫