Graphics Library for D

[Mike]

I'm sure you'll receive no shortage of opinions with such an open 
invitation, so here's mine:

* Please don't make a graphics library that is useful only on PCs.

* Please consider more than mouse and keypboard as input devices 
(e.g. multitouch)

* Today is the first I've heard of Cinder, but if you really want 
to see an extremely well-written graphics library, take a look at 
AGG (Anti-Grain Geometry).  It's is a superior example of 
elegantly employed templates for a real practical problem (lot of 
different platforms). As an example illustrating its reach, I 
ported it to an ARM Cortex-M4 MCU at 168MHz with 2MB of RAM 
trivial modification.  It powers an 800x480 7" TFT LCD with 
16-bit color and is damn fast.  For a quick intro, go here 
(http://www.antigrain.com/doc/introduction/introduction.agdoc.html#toc0006). 
  It is superior design model for anyone wishing to develop a 
graphics library.

* Break the library into loosely coupled pieces that can be used 
individually or aggregated by other projects to build things that 
we haven't even thought of
   *  Geometric primitives should be their own library/package
   *  Vector graphics (paths, line caps, etc...) should be their 
own library/package
   *  Raster graphics should be their own library/package
   *  Window management should be its own library/package
   *  Font's are just data.  Don't couple them to the rendering 
engine.  (e.g  Convert them to a vector/raster representation and 
then let those libraries handle the rest.
   *  The rendering engine should be its own library/package, that 
should be easily replaced with whatever is suitable for the given 
platform.

I think Aurora should be a library of libraries that can be used 
individually or aggregated to build new and exciting projects 
that you and I haven't yet even thought of.  Think std.algorithm.

> The logical phases as I can see them are as follows, but please 
> suggest changes:

Start with the most primitive and move up from there (If loosely 
coupled, the could be developed in parallel)
1. Geometric primitives
2. Vector graphics
3. Fonts (just a special case of vector graphics)
4. Rasterization
5. Backend (Direct2D/3D, OpenGL, OpenVG, whatever)

Once that is done, Widget libraries, Windowing, Input Device 
handling, etc... can all be built on top of that.

A graphics library is something I will need in my future D plans, 
so I look forward to seeing where this goes, and I hope I'll be 
able to make a positive contribution or two myself.

But, please play a little with AGG before you begin your design.  
I think you'll be glad you did. (http://www.antigrain.com/)