Vulkan Decoder Ring

This section provides a mapping between the Vulkan term for a concept and the terminology used in other APIs. It is organized in alphabetical order by Vulkan term. If you are searching for the Vulkan equivalent of a concept used in an API you know, you can find the term you know in this list and then search the Vulkan specification for the corresponding Vulkan term.

Not everything will be a perfect 1:1 match, the goal is to give a rough idea where to start looking in the spec.

Vulkan GL,GLES DirectX Metal

Vulkan	GL,GLES	DirectX	Metal
buffer device address		GPU virtual address
buffer view, texel buffer	texture buffer	typed buffer SRV, typed buffer UAV	texture buffer
color attachments	color attachments	render target	color attachments or render target
command buffer	part of context, display list, NV_command_list	command list	command buffer
command pool	part of context	command allocator	command queue
conditional rendering	conditional rendering	predication
cooperative matrix		wave matrix	SIMD group matrix
depth/stencil attachment	depth Attachment and stencil Attachment	depth/stencil view	depth attachment and stencil attachment, depth render target and stencil render target
descriptor		descriptor	argument
descriptor pool		descriptor heap	heap
descriptor set		descriptor table	argument buffer
descriptor set layout binding, push descriptor		root parameter	argument in shader parameter list
device group	implicit (E.g. SLI,CrossFire)	multi-adapter device	peer group
device memory		heap	placement heap
event		split barrier
fence	fence, sync	`ID3D12Fence::SetEventOnCompletion`	completed handler, `-[MTLCommandBuffer waitUntilComplete]`
fragment shader	fragment shader	pixel shader	fragment shader or fragment function
fragment shader interlock	GL_ARB_fragment_shader_interlock	rasterizer order view (ROV)	raster order group
framebuffer	framebuffer object	collection of resources	MTLRenderPassDescriptor
heap		ID3D12Heap	MTLHeap
image	texture and renderbuffer	texture	texture
image layout		resource state
image tiling		image layout, swizzle
image view	texture view	render target view, depth/stencil view, shader resource view, unordered access view	texture view
interface matching (`in`/`out`)	varying (removed in GLSL 4.20)	Matching semantics	Pervertex input attributes
invocation	invocation	thread, lane	thread, lane
layer		slice	slice
logical device	context	device	device
memory type	automatically managed, texture storage hint, buffer storage	heap type, CPU page property	storage mode, CPU cache mode
multiview rendering	multiview rendering	view instancing	vertex amplification
physical device		adapter, node	device
pipeline	state and program or program pipeline	pipeline state	pipeline state
pipeline barrier, memory barrier	texture barrier, memory barrier	resource barrier	texture barrier, memory barrier
pipeline layout		root signature
queue	part of context	command queue	command queue
semaphore	fence, sync	fence	fence, event
shader module	shader object	resulting `ID3DBlob` from `D3DCompileFromFile`	shader library
shading rate attachment		shading rate image	rasterization rate map
sparse block	sparse block	tile	sparse tile
sparse image	sparse texture	reserved resource (D12), tiled resource (D11)	sparse texture
storage buffer	shader storage buffer	raw or structured buffer UAV	buffer in `device` address space
subgroup	subgroup	wave	SIMD-group, quadgroup
surface	HDC, GLXDrawable, EGLSurface	window	layer
swapchain	Part of HDC, GLXDrawable, EGLSurface	swapchain	layer
swapchain image	default framebuffer		drawable texture
task shader		amplification shader	object shader
tessellation control shader	tessellation control shader	hull shader	tessellation compute kernel
tessellation evaluation shader	tessellation evaluation shader	domain shader	post-tessellation vertex shader
timeline semaphore		D3D12 fence	event
transform feedback	transform feedback	stream-out
uniform buffer	uniform buffer	constant buffer views (CBV)	buffer in `constant` address space
workgroup	workgroup	threadgroup	threadgroup

buffer device address

GPU virtual address

buffer view, texel buffer

texture buffer

typed buffer SRV, typed buffer UAV

texture buffer

color attachments

render target

color attachments or render target

command buffer

part of context, display list, NV_command_list

command list

command buffer

command pool

part of context

command allocator

command queue

conditional rendering

predication

cooperative matrix

wave matrix

SIMD group matrix

depth/stencil attachment

depth Attachment and stencil Attachment

depth/stencil view

depth attachment and stencil attachment, depth render target and stencil render target

descriptor

argument

descriptor pool

descriptor heap

heap

descriptor set

descriptor table

argument buffer

descriptor set layout binding, push descriptor

root parameter

argument in shader parameter list

device group

implicit (E.g. SLI,CrossFire)

multi-adapter device

peer group

device memory

heap

placement heap

event

split barrier

fence

fence, sync

ID3D12Fence::SetEventOnCompletion

completed handler, -[MTLCommandBuffer waitUntilComplete]

fragment shader

pixel shader

fragment shader or fragment function

fragment shader interlock

GL_ARB_fragment_shader_interlock

rasterizer order view (ROV)

raster order group

framebuffer

framebuffer object

collection of resources

MTLRenderPassDescriptor

heap

ID3D12Heap

MTLHeap

image

texture and renderbuffer

texture

image layout

resource state

image tiling

image layout, swizzle

image view

texture view

render target view, depth/stencil view, shader resource view, unordered access view

texture view

interface matching (in/out)

varying (removed in GLSL 4.20)

Matching semantics

Pervertex input attributes

invocation

thread, lane

layer

slice

logical device

context

device

memory type

automatically managed, texture storage hint, buffer storage

heap type, CPU page property

storage mode, CPU cache mode

multiview rendering

view instancing

vertex amplification

physical device

adapter, node

device

pipeline

state and program or program pipeline

pipeline state

pipeline barrier, memory barrier

texture barrier, memory barrier

resource barrier

texture barrier, memory barrier

pipeline layout

root signature

queue

part of context

command queue

semaphore

fence, sync

fence

fence, event

shader module

shader object

resulting ID3DBlob from D3DCompileFromFile

shader library

shading rate attachment

shading rate image

rasterization rate map

sparse block

tile

sparse tile

sparse image

sparse texture

reserved resource (D12), tiled resource (D11)

sparse texture

storage buffer

shader storage buffer

raw or structured buffer UAV

buffer in device address space

subgroup

wave

SIMD-group, quadgroup

surface

HDC, GLXDrawable, EGLSurface

window

layer

swapchain

Part of HDC, GLXDrawable, EGLSurface

swapchain

layer

swapchain image

default framebuffer

drawable texture

task shader

amplification shader

object shader

tessellation control shader

hull shader

tessellation compute kernel

tessellation evaluation shader

domain shader

post-tessellation vertex shader

timeline semaphore

D3D12 fence

event

transform feedback

stream-out

uniform buffer

constant buffer views (CBV)

buffer in constant address space

workgroup

threadgroup