It makes a lot of sense to use gfx-hal, as it addresses the ability to write kernel and runtime code once and run it portably. But in exploring it I've found some points of friction, especially in using more "advanced" features. To serve the research goals, I'm enjoying using Vulkan directly, through [ash], which I've found does a good job tracking Vulkan releases. One example is experimenting with `VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control`.
The hal layer in this repo is strongly inspired by gfx-hal, but with some differences. One is that we're shooting for a compile-time pipeline to generate GPU IR on DX12 and Metal, while gfx-hal ships [SPIRV-Cross] in the runtime. To access [Shader Model 6], that would also require bundling [DXC] at runtime, which is not yet implemented (though it's certainly possible).
The case for wgpu is also strong, but it's even less mature. I'd love to see it become a solid foundation, at which point I'd use it as the main integration with [Druid].
In addition, the shaders are provided under the terms of the [Unlicense](UNLICENSE). The intent is for this research to be used in as broad a context as possible.
Contributions are welcome by pull request. The [Rust code of conduct] applies. Pull requests should be against the `dev` branch; see [shader_compilation.md] for explanation and details.
