Sdl2 vs sfml. SFML is, by far, the largest, heaviest, and most opinionated of the three. 2 experience. MonoGame, since iirc it started off as a recreation (Mono) of Microsoft's C# (therefore XNA framework) for Linux, which was fairly intuitive and easy to work with. " Oct 29, 2024 · I’m currently working on my master’s thesis, where I’m comparing the SFML, Raylib, and SDL2 libraries in the context of game development. But it depends on what you mean by game dev start or rather your programing knowledge. The artist can then blit the entire image to the screen with just a single operation. GLFW and SDL offer a platform independent interface to windowing and user event handling, SDL with more functionality than GLFW. Jan 11, 2010 · Yes, SDL in it's most basic form is a software-renderer and SFML is a hardware-accelerated-renderer and, yes, the hardware requirements of SDL are insanely low (code for your fridge) while those of SFML seem to be pretty low (code for your laptop). No Fluff, just facts. They’ve abstracted most tougher areas into easy to handle classes. In SDL1 2d drawing implemented as blitting directly on display surface, and then sending this surface to display - so mostly software (although minor hw acceleration is still possible). Jul 12, 2015 · Why use SFML over SDL?In my experience, SDL gives you more lower level access. If we have great game engines like Unity and Jan 11, 2012 · Why if there a topic about sdl there are guys that suggest to use SFML instead. SFMLWell, from a very, very cursory search, it sounds like SDL uses software rendering, as opposed to the OpenGL-based hardware acceleration SFML uses, as well as omitting several useful APIs. For a game dev start I would recommend starting with something like monogame, libjdx, raylib, Godot to get your feet wet with simple projects and then transition to c++ with sfml/SDL. It is composed of five modules: system, window, graphics, audio and network. So, should I start with game engines like unity and Unreal, or should I go with SFML, SDL, OpenGL to make a start? I googled it and found, that for a good gaming programming practice you should develop your one engine, but I found it like re-inventing the wheel. SDL also allows for fast blits between different pixel formats. SDL from what I've heard has much wider cross-platform support, so if you want to aim to go to as many platforms as possible then go there. 3, not SFML and SDL 1. If what you search is OO Api SFML is the way to go. If you start with the latter option it can be pretty frustrating. Not sure if SDL2 improved on that. Simple and Fast Multimedia LibraryFrequently Asked Questions (FAQ) General What is SFML? On which platforms is SFML currently available? Which programming languages are supported by SFML? What dependencies does SFML have? What version of SFML should I use? Is there a complete list with all the changes from SFML 2. So has anyone made a test that compares SDL2's hardware acceleration speed to SFML's speed? SDL and SFML are both libraries designed to make it easy to build cross-platform multimedia applications. g. May 23, 2012 · I used SFML api as SDL wrapper ;-) (just for the sake of keep trying new things). I used both before, and while I do prefer GLFW for more general purpose stuff, I would take SDL2 over GLFW for games. The only consideration would be if you have unusual input requirements. Which one have you used or are you using in your work, and what influenced your choice? Is SFML much more beginner friendly than SDL, or is the difference in the learning curve very slight? Also, how do the learning curves of these 2 frameworks compare to that of UE's macroed C++ and Godot? SDL seems also to be less OOP and more C-like, which to be fair it's not a deal breaker, but I would prefer to go OOP. Get insights on both tech, to make an informed choice. Aug 1, 2010 · Firstly SDL has a more C like API whereas SFML is more C++-ish. If a call to draw uses the same state as the last call, you queue it into the batch. Aug 12, 2019 · SFML comes with spartial audio out-of-the-box. SDL is another option, but it is more procedural style, whereas SFML is more object oriented, which coming from Java I guess you'd prefer. It works well, probably even better than SDL on Windows, Linux, Mac OS: SFML compiles on standard platforms like Windows (98, 2000, XP, Vista) and Unix systems (Linux, Mac OS X). We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. SFML abstracts a lot better than SDL. Oct 21, 2010 · I prefer SFML. SDL2 is relatively bare-bones and you need separate libraries (sdl2_image, sdl2_mixer, sdl2_ttf, etc. Mar 20, 2016 · I understand that SFML's speed beats SDL 1. Unequivocal comparison powered by robust data-driven analysis. Jul 18, 2009 · Well if you learn best by reading books SDL is your only option since AFAIK there is no book on SFML but there are quite a number of books covering SDL. :wink: Not sure why you started this thread to be honest. Think of this as a head-to-head matchup, with each library showing off its best moves. I think SFML was easier to learn, that’s why I went with it. 0 was released :)Just a Essentially, I have seen it all. I've seen the benchmarks on the SFML site, but well, always better to go to more than one source, especially a non-biased one. 2 by a landslide, but I am making a game engine right now that utilizes SDL2's new hardware-acceleration. SDL officially supports Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android Here is the SDL Wiki for SDL_RenderCopyEx. If you are an openGL programmer, do you even bother with SFML or SDL or do you do everything in native openGL? What openGL books have helped you out the most? May 13, 2016 · For the record, SDL and OpenGL aren't mutually exclusive. Now I'm porting my framework to Windows and taking this as an opportunity to upgrade from SDL1. The input processing and windowing code is based on the platform-specific APIs (DirectInput for Windows, looks like, X11 and Linux driver-generated joystick events for Linux, for example). Unfortunately, my experience with SDL was quite limited so I couldn't provide a good comparison. Depends on what kind of GUI you need. Dec 22, 2020 · When I first started to program I went back and forth over SDL and SFML. For the graphics features you seem to want, SFML is probably your best option. SFML also provides a hardware accelerated graphics API where SDL is still based on software rendering and integration with OpenGL is a complete bitch. Looking through SFML's source: The graphics code is built directly on top of OpenGL. SFML is still very good for desktop platforms (saying as someone who's used it for Windows and Linux games), I cannot give my opinion on the mobile exports but it's there. According to their features and portability, they're very similar. The alternative path for C++ is SFML, which has sensible abstractions for most of what you need. I was then looking into SFML and from the looks of it, it seems to be a "better" SDL for my purposes. I'm at a lost over whether I should go with it or SDL. SDL is a "hardware abstraction layer" that also handles windows, events and input as opposed to being just a graphics library. Both libraries are extremely well polished and excellent choices. SDL did port to everything including the Wii and some Apr 2, 2016 · Cannot say anything about SFML (but almost sure things are very close), but for SDL it is as you say. The differences between SDL and GLFW are totally irrelevant if you're just creating a game which uses OpenGL. Meaning you can do more powerful stuff, but you also need to manage more yourself. SDL VS raylib Compare SDL vs raylib and see what are their differences. SFML was abandoned, but SDL still has a very active maintainer. Simple and Fast Multimedia Library SFML is multi-media SFML provides a simple interface to the various components of your PC, to ease the development of games and multimedia applications. Additionally, it had that C-style of programming that I have always been fond of. x really don't have comparable feature sets, if such a comparison is to be made it should be between SFML and SDL 1. SDL and sfml are bigger packages that have more features available (sound, fonts, texture imports, some rendering abstractions). It is used by video playback software, emulators, and popular games including Valve 's award winning catalog and many Humble Bundle games. x. May 23, 2012 · SFML timer has some problems related to performance counter leaps so I Had to use my own timer), SFML has more high-level functionalities. SFML is more novice-friendly, but both libraries are great in the long run. It serves as a hub for game creators to discuss and share their insights, experiences, and expertise in the industry. Do you mind sharing a link or game name? Despite all the advice out there picking up a game engine, I too am pursuing a goal of making a game from scratch using simple parts of C++ and SFML for now, but was also looking at SDL and Sokol. This means that SFML is faster for rich graphics and zooming/rotating/scrolling etc. However, SFML is based on classes. SDL is really good as a cross-platform window and input library (that also has some audio capabilities), though, so if you find yourself working with OpenGL or Vulkan in the future SDL works well as a backbone of sorts. more Aug 17, 2022 · In the last years I've been asked multiple times about the comparison between raylib and SDL libraries. I'm pretty sure that it doesn't. Nov 18, 2008 · Benchmark : SDL vs SFMLYour benchmarks are severly flawed. Good for indie gamedev as writing your own graphics library is an enormous undertaking. If that is a pro or con depends on you. SFML还不支持安卓和苹果，接口主要是c++的。SDL是支持的，接口主要是c的。如果从这两者选，那么SDL有优势。 但是这两者都有个弊端。它们都不是轻嵌入形式的方案。就是说我本来已经有一个本地化工程了比如win32工程，现在需要的是在这个基础上嵌入一个绘制层，那么就很麻烦。这两是直接接管了 . org Suggest alternative Edit details I'd recommend SDL2 over SFML. If it's for regular applications then Qt is the most used one and pretty good, otherwise Gtk or even things like Electron. SFML aims to handle everything, so on the one hand you are locked more into their design decisions, but on the other, them making choices for you will save you time getting started. In the world of APIs, newer GLFW is leaner than SDL2. Jun 11, 2010 · SFML uses more modern and cleaner coding techniques, better looking documentation (if you consider external documentation valid), more convenient uses, etc. I gave up on SDL2 for graphics after looking at the code that would be necessary to apply the simplest OpenGL shader. SFML Simple and Fast Multimedia Library (by SFML) Apr 18, 2011 · Also, since SFML and SDL 1. x to SFML 3. If the state changes, you flush the queue, clear it, then place the newest call in the front of the batch Apr 5, 2024 · Explore the technical depths of Raylib vs SFML. Discover their features more in detail in the tutorials and the API documentation. Unless I missed the point. SDL uses software rendering whereas SFML uses openGL. Are you agree? We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. 0? Is there a complete list with all the changes from SFML 1. (Note: I made the original video about a week before SFML 3. It provides a lot of abstractions to underlying platform differences and is a good layer for building on top of. 15K subscribers 570 41K views 4 years ago GERMANY #SFML #SDL2 #Game #2020 In this video, we will see which one of SDL and SFML is better for your project. If you want to make a game engine, use SDL, SFML, or GLFW and optionally something like Dear Imgui. h and GLM. Doxygen even generates inheritances diagrams on it's own, so you can also get an overview on how things are Aug 21, 2016 · Are there any other considerations & differences that can help one make a decision?     Sounds like you already covered every inch of what needs to be known making a choice. Use them if you don't want to do all the window functions like sizing, resolution, user keystrokes, mouse or joystick movements, contexts in case of OpenGL by yourself and platform dependently, which can be very tedious. text rendering or audio). org Suggest alternative Edit details Mar 4, 2017 · There are other libraries such as GLFW and SFML that exist and are arguably a lot easier to use. Actually I want to be a game programmer. I’d love to hear about your experiences with these libraries. Hope it helps future users to better understand A small SFML vs SDL benchmark written by Laurent Gomila back in 2007 and now adapted by eXpl0it3r for SFML 2. What would be really interesting is to see how an SDL-driven OpenGL application performs compared to SFML. So they both handle graphics, audio, inputs, networking, and so on. Dec 19, 2016 · Hi everyone, I suppose this question has been asked thousands of time on the forum but I ask it anyway: I want to start creating a nice and clean 2D game, not too simple but not complex either. 4 For Beginners - 0: Getting S Learn ENET: • Basic ENet Tutorial Series - Server/C Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform development library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, and graphics hardware via OpenGL and Direct3D. In the world of APIs, newer Nov 18, 2008 · Benchmark : SDL vs SFMLYour benchmarks are severly flawed. For those of you who have worked with both, which tends to have better performance? Jun 1, 2014 · OpenGL is just an API to talk to your graphics hardware - for rendering. It’s used by many game developers, and there The subreddit covers various game development aspects, including programming, design, writing, art, game jams, postmortems, and marketing. What was your experience? Are you a solo dev? Was it worth it? SDL2 allows you to transfer pixels from one surface to another quickly and efficiently. You are comparing the software, 2D library that ships with SDL to OpenGL. SFML Simple and Fast Multimedia Library (by SFML) Multimedia SFML C++ Games OpenGL SDK Graphics Audio Cross-Platform HacktoberFest Source Code sfml-dev. Which is better? SDL 7 30% SFML 5 22% They Both Have Pros and Cons 11 48% Aug 29, 2009 · Alright so even though SFML looks technically superior, SDL looks like it has a way bigger community/support/and extensions. Generally with these libraries you're supposed to make your own renderer using the system graphics API, so if the library's built-in Apr 20, 2020 · Hello everyone, I’m Ankur 22, from India. That will rotate a textured SDL_Rect. Sep 16, 2025 · Choosing between SDL and SFML for your C++ game? This in-depth guide compares their APIs, performance, and ease of use to help you pick the right library. Jan 18, 2025 · Learn C++ game development with SDL and SFML, a beginner's guide covering the basics and advanced techniques. SFML uses SDL underneath. It also has some hacky GPU selection stuff for Windows, and C++ is the language of linalg. Grep'ing for "SDL" in the source finds one instance of that SFML performed best overall, making it the best choice when targeting a wide range of different machines. SDL is commonly used for bootstrapping a window and things like input handling. That's just not my style, which is why I don't use SFML. Which is the best of the two above mentioned - raylib or SDL2? What I've read, raylib is a "real C-oriented" Game library with Open GL, and SDL2 also is, but more build for C++ (but it's written in pure C). Mar 24, 2025 · Let’s see how SDL and SFML stack up when it comes to the core features you’ll be wrestling with in every project. SDL/SFML/GLFW aren't "middle men" so much as helpers to OpenGL. And the reason I liked SDL more was because it was more"lower-level" than Raylib or SFML. See where I'm going with this? SFML is a good alternative to SDL if you're making the kind of game that I like. - antonlc/multimedia-library-comparision Feb 22, 2024 · Explore a riveting comparison between Raylib and SDL. The subreddit covers various game development aspects, including programming, design, writing, art, game jams, postmortems, and marketing. Jul 18, 2010 · Libraries such as GLFW, SDL, and SFML should all do an adequate job of handling user input, so there's nothing of particular interest there. What is happening in this forum????? If I want an answer about SDL, then I should have one not suggest me to leave SDL. SFML is based for C++. 0. As the library grows up, support for more operating systems will be added. These things are also available for SDL but not included directly. One thing I keep hearing a lot is that SFML is much faster than SDL. SDL isn't, so you must either work with pointers (lots of pointers) or create classes on your own (which is, by the way, quite entertaining). May 8, 2016 · It depends on you. Years ago I was allergic to SDL, now I find it very usefull. In my understanding it doesn't require any OpenGL knowledge and it's more OOP. Essentially, I have seen it all. As mentioned in most of the things that I've read, both allow If you only want input and use raw opengl calls, glfw is the smallest option of the 3 (it also handles window/context creation for you if you want to). 8. 0 was released :)Just a Comparing SFML 3 rc to SFML 2, SDL 3 to SDL 2, and Allegro 5 to Allegro 4. SDL2 have SDL_Renderer and textures (which are GPU-side images or render targets) and any basic drawing that Jan 22, 2024 · SFML, short for Simple and Fast Multimedia Library, is a freely available and open-source software development library. I've played with SFML when it first came out and it seemed like decent but SDL2 seems quite promising, any reasons to go with one or the other (using the provided rendering functions for now but may be looking into getting into opengl in the not so distant future)? Sep 7, 2012 · Comparison SFML vs SDL -> GUI and OGRE3DAs for your UML diagrams; most of the libraries support doxygen-like comments and thus it's possible to generate a full blown documentation (like the one SFML has) with just a few clicks and they are imho way more informative than some diagrams. I think the SFML vs SDL question is one of those entirely subjective questions, unless you're asking for a very specific reason or need a very specific thing from your library. Having said that they both provide documentation you can download so as long as you know C++ you should be able to pick up either pretty e Benchmark : SDL vs SFMLI personally only really used Immediate, since I find it easy enough to handle the ordering myself.   What am I missing? Does it have some feature that n Compare SFML vs SDL and see what are their differences. Multiple times I would decide, "Nah, I like the other better you can do X or Y easier. Especially on Mingw compiler you will notice that SDL's binaries are very small compared to SFML's binaries. When comparing SFML vs raylib, the Slant community recommends SFML for most people. In the question “What are the best 2D game engines?” SFML is ranked 35th while raylib is ranked 36th. Especially on Mingw Apr 4, 2013 · SDL is lower level and made for C. 2. SFML is less segregated (the graphics module gives you sprites, primitives, and TTF text, the audio module gives you music, basic sound effects, and positional sound) and you can tweak the Oct 29, 2024 · Hi everyone! I’m currently working on my master’s thesis, where I’m comparing the SFML, Raylib, and SDL2 libraries in the context of game development. With SFML this is a given fact. iv Sammanfattning I denna rapport jämförs renderingsprestandan mellan multimediabiblio- teken Allegro, SDL och SFML. SDL and SFML are libraries which act as an abstraction layer between your program and the operating system. I assume this is pretty much like the batching Laurent added to SFML 2. Join this channel if you want to support me 😻: / @lowlevelgamedev9330 Learn SFML: • SFML 2. This process is known as blitting, and it enables artists to create complete images from pre-drawn graphics. 2 did. SDL2 offers also IOS-Support (raylib only Android) and you can also make homebrew-ports with SDL2 for Nintendo Switch. Which one have you used or are you using in your work, and what influenced your choice? Sfml is nice but I would go with either SDL or raylib since they are compatible with emscripten. SFML is barely known enough to have a decent wiki page. I've a quite good c++ background (OOP,STLs) and I've made some simple console games (Snake , Hangman) so I think it's the time to move to the next step, my main goal right now is to gain more knowledge and experience about game developing and the c++ language, so I'm really confused what to pick up, some of my friends are going to start learning Godot but I have read that SDL/SFML will help me Mar 3, 2019 · SFML gives access to the PC's audio, graphics, network, system and window modules. There doesn't seem to be any clear consensus on this forum. SDL offers slightly more LOW-LEVEL funcitonalities but lacks nanoseconds timer (by the way on windows SFML timer has some problems related to performance counter leaps so I Had to use my own timer), SFML has more high-level functionalities. Jun 24, 2012 · SFML is a more mature library. GLFW is not much more than platform abstraction for multimedia (windows, input, OpenGL/Vulkan context creation, timing). 2, and while SDL2 seems like the obvious choice, it seems like I'm still going to need SFML because SDL2_mixer still has the limitation of only supporting one music track at once. Jul 29, 2022 · SFML is for creating games with their own non-standard GUI. Should you learn SDL, SFML, or GLFW? (or GLUT) #indiegamedevontop graphicsrush 782 subscribers Subscribe SFML VS SDL Compare SFML vs SDL and see what are their differences. Out of all of them, I think SDL2 was closer to what I was looking for, though, Raylib was the one I used the most at the beginning. Of course you are going to get a huge difference in performance - you don't even need to perform a benchmark to understand that. Also, SFML has been supporting hardware acceleration from the start, whereas with SDL there are some doubts Comparing SFML 3 rc to SFML 2, SDL 3 to SDL 2, and Allegro 5 to Allegro 4. Apr 18, 2011 · Also, since SFML and SDL 1. You can choose whatever you want. Their purpose when used with OpenGL is to make it so things like window creation and event handling don't have to be re-written for Compare SFML vs SDL and see what are their differences. You can use SDL and SFML without OpenGL. SDL also has support to be used in conjunction with OpenGL so SDL can do all the non-graphics stuff while OpenGL handles the graphics. ) if you want anything even slightly more advanced. This is with SDL1. Also, as I posted in another topic, SDL and all companion libraries maintained by the SDL developers (SDL_Image, SDL_Mixer, SDL_TTF, SDL_Net, etc) are now zlib licensed, which is the same license as SFML and Irrlicht; which used to be a minor plus in favor of SFML for me. SFML's API includes random numbers, networking multithreading and 3d sound. Imho setup using GLFW is easier, but SDL2 brings a lot of neat features other than input and window management that GLFW is missing (e. GLFW, SDL, and SFML are on a scale from "lightweight" to "heavyweight". A comparision of the rendering performance of Allegro, SDL, and SFML as part of a Degree Project at KTH. It's also supposed to be Object-Oriented, meaning that you'll have to write cleaner code to get it to work, but you'll also run into less headaches working on it. SDL2 also doesn't have the same portability that SDL1. SDL works on top of ancient 2D surface blitting techniques that haven't SDL and SFML are C/++ libraries that do a lot of the heavy lifting displaying graphics and so on. In the last two years I've learned about SDL and used it to teach at University so I feel that now I can provide a good comparison between both. SFML has built-in support for printing text, streaming/looping music, playing sound effects, whereas SDL only provides the bare bones minimum (although there are add-on libs to help with the rest) SFML works on top of OpenGL, which is fast and hardware accelerated. I messed around with SFML in C++ and wasn't a big fan of it, so I switched to SDL, and later went to SDL2 which has better support for 2D, which was all I needed. That would be a meaningful Apr 11, 2011 · SDL vs. I used SFML for my first game, SFML is very C++ -like while SDL is more towards C-style. OpenGL is very good for writing custom 2D or 3D rendering applications, it accesses with the OS's internal graphics functions. SFML goes well beyond what SDL and GLFW provides, and you can write a game in SFML without learning OpenGL. For example, with SDL it was more tricky to ensure you had hardware acceleration. Last time I used SDL2 I was left frustrated over how it needed to hijack main. Its purpose is to offer a straightforward and efficient interface to several SDL from what I've heard has much wider cross-platform support, so if you want to aim to go to as many platforms as possible then go there. I'm not an expert programmer yet What are the pros and cons of SDL, GLFW and SFML? Thanks! Feb 28, 2016 · I've read a lot about creating graphics with OpenGL in SDL and SFML over the past few days, and I want to know which one I should pick. Is SFML only suitable for creating vidiogames or can it also be used to create dekstop apps, or is it better to use Qt for this purpose? While you can create a standard desktop application with SFML, it's kinda like creating a model of the river Kwai bridge from toothpicks. 6 to Apr 16, 2011 · Easily load GLSL files to add neat effects. SDL is like SFML, but its API isn't quite as nice. ppf nambg tw0zv ufuwx7b ihki fws6g59 6os g9tp ofvx ey4dp