Magnum is a 2D/3D graphics engine written in C++11/C++14 and modern OpenGL. Its
goal is to simplify low-level graphics development and interaction with OpenGL
using recent C++11/C++14 features and to abstract away platform-specific
issues.
[](https://gitter.im/mosra/magnum?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge)
DESIGN GOALS
============
* **2D is not an ugly stepchild.** Many engines out there were created as
pure 2D or 3D and the alternative is usually just an afterthought, if
present at all. If you want to do your next project in 2D only, you have to
either relearn another engine from scratch or emulate it in 3D, leaving
many things overly complicated. Magnum treats 2D equivalently to 3D so you
can reuse what you already learned for 3D and even combine 2D and 3D in one
project.
* **Forward compatibility.** If newer technology makes things faster, simpler
or more intuitive, it is the way to go. Magnum by default relies on decent
C++11 support and modern OpenGL features and if some feature isn't
available, it tries to emulate it using older functionality. However, you
are not restricted to use the older functionality directly, if you really
want to.
* **Intuitive, but not restrictive API.** Scripting languages are often
preferred to C/C++ because they are designed to have less complicated APIs
and less boilerplate code. Magnum is designed with intuitivity in mind, but
also with speed and static checks that strongly-typed native code offers.
It wraps OpenGL into less verbose and more type-safe API, which is easier
to use. Usually the most common way is the most simple, but if you need
full control, you can have it.
* **Extensible and replaceable components.** If you want to use different
mathematical library for specific purposes, that new windowing toolkit,
your own file formats or another physics library, you can. Conversion of
math structures between different libraries can be done on top of pre-made
skeleton classes, support for file formats is done using plugins and
platform support is done by writing simple wrapper class.
Magnum — *Lightweight and modular C++11/C++14 graphics middleware to power your dreams.*
Looking for an open-source library that gives you graphics abstraction and
platform independence on major desktop, mobile and web platforms? Do you want
it to have all the convenience utilities around yet stay small, powerful and
not give up on flexibility? *Here it is.* And it's free to use, even for
commercial purposes.
[](https://gitter.im/mosra/magnum?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge) [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/magnum/branch/master) [](https://coveralls.io/github/mosra/magnum?branch=master)
*Looking for more?* There's a [Showcase page](http://magnum.graphics/showcase/)
right behind the corner with lots of WebGL demos.
SUPPORTED PLATFORMS
===================
- **Linux** and embedded Linux
- **Windows**, **Windows RT** (Store/Phone)
- **macOS**, **iOS**
- **Android**
- **Web** ([asm.js](http://asmjs.org/) or [WebAssembly](http://webassembly.org/)),
through [Emscripten](http://kripken.github.io/emscripten-site/)
Graphics APIs:
* **OpenGL** 2.1 through 4.5, core profile functionality and modern
-**OpenGL** 2.1 through 4.5, core profile functionality and modern
extensions
* **OpenGL ES** 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 and extensions to match desktop OpenGL
-**OpenGL ES** 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 and extensions to match desktop OpenGL
functionality
* **WebGL** 1.0, 2.0 and extensions to match desktop OpenGL functionality
Platforms:
* **Linux** and embedded Linux (natively using GLX/EGL and Xlib or through
SDL2, GLFW or GLUT toolkit) [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum) [](https://coveralls.io/github/mosra/magnum?branch=master)
* **Windows** with both MSVC and MinGW, natively or using ANGLE (through SDL2, GLFW or GLUT toolkit) [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/mosra/magnum/branch/master)
* **macOS** (through SDL2 or GLFW toolkit) [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum)
* **Web** (asm.js or WebAssembly), through [Emscripten](http://kripken.github.io/emscripten-site/) [](https://travis-ci.org/mosra/magnum)
FEATURES
========
* Actively maintained Doxygen documentation with tutorials and examples.
Snapshot is available at http://doc.magnum.graphics/magnum/.
* Vector and matrix library with implementation of complex numbers,
quaternions and their dual counterparts for representing transformations.
* Classes wrapping OpenGL using RAII principle and simplifying its usage with
direct state access and automatic fallback for unavailable features.
* Extensible scene graph which can be modified for each specific usage.
* Plugin-based data exchange framework, tools for manipulating meshes,
textures and images.
* Pre-made shaders, primitives and other tools for easy prototyping and
debugging.
INSTALLATION
============
- **WebGL** 1.0, 2.0 and extensions to match desktop OpenGL functionality
See the [Build Status page](http://magnum.graphics/build-status/) for detailed
per-platform build status.
BUILDING MAGNUM
===============
You can either use packaging scripts, which are stored in the `package/`
subdirectory, or compile and install everything manually using the guide below.
Note that the [Magnum documentation](http://doc.magnum.graphics/magnum/)
contains more comprehensive guide for building, packaging and crosscompiling.
subdirectory, or compile and install everything manually. A short guide is
below, for complete documentation for all platforms head over to the
Vladimír Vondruš
8 years ago