 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
| Lightweight Java Game Library (LWJGL) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original author | Caspian Prince |
| Developer | Ioannis Tsakpinis |
| Initial release | 4 February 2007; 19 years ago (2007-02-04)[1] |
| Stable release | 3.3.6 / 4 January 2025; 13 months ago (2025-01-04) |
| Written in | Java,C,Kotlin[2][3] |
| Operating system | Linux,macOS,Windows,FreeBSD |
| Platform | Java platform |
| Type | Free computer library |
| License | BSD,[4] some bindings under different licenses[2] |
| Website | lwjgl |
| Repository | github |
TheLightweight Java Game Library (LWJGL) is anopen-sourcesoftware library that providesbindings to a variety ofC libraries forvideo game developers toJava. It exposescross-platform libraries commonly used in developing video games and multimedia titles, such asVulkan,OpenGL,GLFW,OpenAL andOpenCL.
The primary goal of the project is to provide a way for Java developers to get access to resources that are otherwise unavailable or poorly implemented on the existing Java platform. The main philosophy is to expose underlying technology as a thin wrapper, thus creating anAPI close to the original. It is also the basis of many high-level Java game engines and libraries, such aslibGDX or thejMonkeyEngine.
Development of the library began in 2002 with the release ofJ2SE 1.4, making use of the newly-addednon-blocking I/O operations andoff-heap memory access. These additions to theJDK allowed for better access to native memory and libraries not a part of the JDK. The first official release of the library was on 4 February 2007.[1]
On 13 November 2014, version 3 was announced, which was released in the alpha version on 27 April 2015 and is a complete rewrite of LWJGL.[5][6][7] Many new bindings, includingGLFW,EGL andObjective-C, were added.[4][6] Support forOculus Rift development was also added with LibOVR bindings.[4][7] The new version was released on 4 June 2016, after more than 3 and a half years in development.[8]
The library accesses nativeC code through theJava Native Interface (JNI). Bindings to each of the native libraries exist as different modules so developers can make custom builds with only the things they need in a certain program.[4][7][9]
While utility classes are written in pureJava, most of the binding classes are automatically generated by a custom generator implemented inKotlin.[2][3]
Since version 3.1, LWJGL is fully split into 51 modules that can be downloaded and used separately. To make this process easier, the project provides an online build configurator, which allows users to download custom combinations of modules and automatically generatesMaven andGradle configuration files to ease their use with existing projects.[10][11]
| Binding | Category | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| EGL | Khronos APIs | Interface between Khronos rendering APIs and the underlying native platform window system. | |
| OpenCL | API for cross-platformparallel computing. | ||
| OpenGL | 3D graphics specification implemented by mostGPU vendors. | Most extensions are supported, but less popular ones will be added on request. | |
| OpenGL ES | OpenGL forembedded systems like mobile phones, tablets, or consoles. | ||
| Vulkan | Upcoming cross-platform 3D graphics API. | ||
| GLFW | Display and Input | Window management library needed for handling OpenGL and Vulkan contexts as well as user input. | |
| JAWT | AWT native interface. | ||
| nfd | Small cross-platform native file dialogs library. | ||
| tinyfd | Small native dialog library. | ||
| OpenAL | Audio | Three-dimensional audio API. | ALC and other extensions are supported. Specifically bundles the OpenAL Soft implementation. |
| Opus | Open, royalty-freeaudio codec. | ||
| Assimp | Graphics | Portable open source library to import various3D model formats. | |
| bgfx | Cross-platform rendering library supporting multiple graphics backends. | ||
| DriftFX | Library to render OpenGL content into JavaFX nodes. | ||
| LibOVR | API of theOculus Rift SDK. | ||
| meshoptimizer | A mesh optimization library that makes meshes smaller and faster to render | ||
| NanoSVG | SimpleSVG parser. | ||
| NanoVG | 2D vector graphics rendering library using OpenGL. | ||
| Nuklear | SimpleGUI library. | ||
| par_shapes | Generator forparametric and other simple shapes. | ||
| par_streamlines | Triangulate wide lines and curves. | ||
| OpenVR | An API runtime that allows access to VR hardware from multiple vendors without requiring applications have specific knowledge of the type of hardware they are targeting. | ||
| Shaderc | A collection of libraries forshader compilation | ||
| SPIRV-Cross | A library for performing reflection onSPIR-V and disassembling SPIR-V back to high level languages. | ||
| OpenEXR | A small, single-header library to load and save OpenEXR (.exr) images. | ||
| Tootle (AMD) | A 3D triangle mesh optimization library that improves on existing mesh preprocessing techniques. | ||
| Vulkan Memory Allocator | An easy to integrate Vulkan memory allocation library. | ||
| Yoga | An open-source, cross-platform layout library that implementsCSSFlexbox. | ||
| STB | STB | Lightweight single-file libraries for loading images, sounds and fonts. | |
| Bullet Physics | Other | Real-time collision detection and multi-physics simulation for VR, games, visual effects, robotics, machine-learning, etc. | |
| CUDA | A parallel computing platform and programming model developed byNVIDIA for general computing on GPUs. | ||
| dyncall | Library for dynamically calling C functions in a portable way. | Set to be removed. | |
| jemalloc | Low-level memory management. | ||
| libffi | A portable, high level programming interface to various calling conventions. | Replaces dyncall. | |
| libdivide | A library that replaces expensive integer divides with comparatively cheap multiplication and bitshifts. | ||
| LLVM | A collection of modular and reusable compiler and toolchain technologies. | ||
| LMDB | Fast database library usingmemory-mapped files. | ||
| LZ4 | A losslessdata compression algorithm that is focused on speed. | ||
| Meow Hash | Fastnon-cryptographic hash. | ||
| ODBC | A C-language interface that makes it possible for applications to access data from a variety of database management systems. | ||
| Remotery | Realtime CPU/GPUprofiler. | ||
| rpmalloc | Cross-platform thread caching memory allocator. | ||
| xxHash | Fast non-cryptographic hash. | ||
| Zstandard | A fast lossless compression algorithm. |
