More than one year after the merge request was opened for adding a Direct3D 8 front-end to DXVK via the D8VK code, the merge request landed today by Valve’s Joshua Ashton.
front-end
I don’t think that’s the proper terminology to use? I’m actually a front-end developer… I think they mean adapter layer? Compatibility layer? Something like that.
Sadly front end, like “High Level” is a very relative term. For example, in compiler design, the bit that parses code is called the “front end” since the “back end” is what emits machine code. I think that’s what they mean here, the “front end” that understands D3D8 code has been added, presumably there is also a “back end” that converts the parsed/analyzed D3D8 code into valid opcodes for consumption by GPU/CPUs.
In the other direction, a UI/UX is sometimes called a “back end” when it is part of a more complex embedded project where physical controls are the “front end”.
You’re right. They’re terms far older than web development. In general the front is the abstraction while the back is the logic/processing. It started as a term for old, large (room-sized) systems where there were front-end machines such as plugboards or terminals, with back-end machines being the CPUs, memory, etc.
No, the terminology sounds right to me. The term front-end and back-end are used in other contexts than building websites.
For example, the term is used in compilers, where the front-end takes code in a programming language and translates it to an intermediate representation (IR), and the back-end takes the IR and translates that into machine code for a specific architecture. A compiler like LLVM has many front-ends and back-ends to support different languages and architectures.
The term applies to many things where there is a multi-layered architecture.
I don’t think that’s the proper terminology to use? I’m actually a front-end developer… I think they mean adapter layer? Compatibility layer? Something like that.
Sadly front end, like “High Level” is a very relative term. For example, in compiler design, the bit that parses code is called the “front end” since the “back end” is what emits machine code. I think that’s what they mean here, the “front end” that understands D3D8 code has been added, presumably there is also a “back end” that converts the parsed/analyzed D3D8 code into valid opcodes for consumption by GPU/CPUs.
In the other direction, a UI/UX is sometimes called a “back end” when it is part of a more complex embedded project where physical controls are the “front end”.
You’re right. They’re terms far older than web development. In general the front is the abstraction while the back is the logic/processing. It started as a term for old, large (room-sized) systems where there were front-end machines such as plugboards or terminals, with back-end machines being the CPUs, memory, etc.
Cool, thanks. TIL. 🙂👍
No, the terminology sounds right to me. The term front-end and back-end are used in other contexts than building websites.
For example, the term is used in compilers, where the front-end takes code in a programming language and translates it to an intermediate representation (IR), and the back-end takes the IR and translates that into machine code for a specific architecture. A compiler like LLVM has many front-ends and back-ends to support different languages and architectures.
The term applies to many things where there is a multi-layered architecture.