Editing DirectX (section)

{{Short description|Collection of multimedia related APIs on Microsoft platforms}}
{{Redirect|DX9|the synthesizer|Yamaha DX9}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2016}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = DirectX
| logo                   = Microsoft-DirectX-Logo-wordmark.svg
| logo_size              = 250px
| developer              = [[Microsoft]]
| released               = {{Start date and age|1995|09|30}}
| latest_release_version = 12 Ultimate API
| latest_release_date    = {{Start date and age|2021|10|5}}
| operating system       = [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Windows Phone 8]], [[Dreamcast]],<ref>{{cite web
 | url       = http://www.gamesurge.com/dreamcast/technical_pages/directx.shtml
 | title     = Dreamcast Technical Pages
 | date      = June 1999
}}</ref> [[Xbox]], [[Xbox 360]], [[Xbox One]], [[Xbox Series X and Series S]], [[Linux]] (Gallium Nine) (DirectX 12 only, Exclusive to [[Windows Subsystem for Linux]])<ref>{{cite web
 | url       = https://www.phoronix.com/news/Microsoft-DX12-WSL2
 | title     = Microsoft Announces Direct3D 12 For Linux / WSL2
 | date      = 19 May 2020
}}</ref>
| genre                  = [[API]]
}}

'''Microsoft DirectX''' is a collection of [[application programming interface]]s (APIs) for handling tasks related to [[multimedia]], especially [[game programming]] and video, on [[Microsoft]] platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct", such as [[Direct3D]], [[DirectDraw]], [[DirectMusic]], [[DirectPlay]], [[DirectSound]], and so forth. The name ''DirectX'' was coined as a shorthand term for all of these APIs (the ''X'' standing in for the particular API names) and soon became the name of the collection. When Microsoft later set out to develop a [[Video game console|gaming console]], the ''X'' was used as the basis of the name [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]] to indicate that the console was based on DirectX technology.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/node/5214861|title=Microsoft: The meaning of Xbox - The Economist|newspaper=The Economist|date=November 24, 2005}}</ref> The ''X'' initial has been carried forward in the naming of APIs designed for the Xbox such as [[DirectInput|XInput]] and the [[Cross-platform Audio Creation Tool]] (XACT), while the DirectX pattern has been continued for Windows APIs such as [[Direct2D]] and [[DirectWrite]].

Direct3D (the 3D graphics API within DirectX) is widely used in the development of [[video game]]s for [[Microsoft Windows]] and the [[Xbox]] line of consoles. Direct3D is also used by other [[software]] applications for visualization and graphics tasks such as CAD/CAM engineering. As Direct3D is the most widely publicized component of DirectX, it is common to see the names "DirectX" and "Direct3D" used interchangeably.

The DirectX [[software development kit]] (SDK) consists of [[runtime library|runtime libraries]] in redistributable binary form, along with accompanying documentation and [[Include directive|headers]] for use in coding. Originally, the runtimes were only installed by games or explicitly by the user. [[Windows 95]] did not launch with DirectX, but DirectX was included with Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.computerhope.com/directx.htm|title=DirectX Help|work=computerhope.com}}</ref> [[Windows 98]] and [[Windows NT 4.0]] both shipped with DirectX, as has every version of Windows released since. The SDK is available as a free download. While the runtimes are proprietary, closed-source software, source code is provided for most of the SDK samples. Starting with the release of Windows 8 Developer Preview, DirectX SDK has been integrated into Windows SDK.<ref name=wheresDX>{{cite web|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee663275%28v=VS.85%29.aspx|title=Where is the DirectX SDK?|publisher=Microsoft|work=microsoft.com}}</ref>