Added blog post for structure chaining.

website/blog/dec-2021/structure-chaining.md

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+---
+{
+"TableOfContents": {
+"Name": "Silk.NET Structure Chaining",
+"Url": "structure-chaining.html",
+"Metadata": {
+"AuthorGitHub": "thargy",
+"DateTimeWritten": "09/12/2021 16:00",
+"PreviewImage": "images/blog/dec-2021/structure-chaining.png"
+} } }
+---
+
+# Silk.NET Structure Chaining
+
+With the release of Silk.NET 2.11 we've enhanced the usability of `Silk.NET.Vulkan` by addressing one of its pain
+points, specifically building the [Singly Linked Lists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_list) (or chains) of
+structures that are frequently used to pass information to, and from, the API.
+
+Up until now, it was not unusual to have to write quite a lot of unsafe code to work with the Vulkan API. For example, to
+query device features you would need to create a chain of empty structures to be populated by the API:
+
+```csharp
+var accelerationStructureFeaturesKhr = new PhysicalDeviceAccelerationStructureFeaturesKHR
+    {SType = StructureType.PhysicalDeviceAccelerationStructureFeaturesKhr};
+var indexingFeatures = new PhysicalDeviceDescriptorIndexingFeatures
+{
+    SType = StructureType.PhysicalDeviceDescriptorIndexingFeatures,
+    PNext = &accelerationStructureFeaturesKhr
+};
+var features2 = new PhysicalDeviceFeatures2
+{
+    SType = StructureType.PhysicalDeviceFeatures2,
+    PNext = &indexingFeatures
+};
+vk.GetPhysicalDeviceFeatures2(device, &features2);
+```
+
+Not only is this quite a bit of boiler plate (and it gets worse when you actually want to pass data to the API), it is
+really easy for developers, who are not always comfortable with `unsafe` code, memory management and pointers, to
+introduce subtle bugs by passing in pointers to structures they have previously generated and are now residing on the
+.NET heap. Such structures can be moved by the Garbage Collector at the most unexpected times!
+
+Thanks to Structure Chaining, we now have 2 new ways to write the above code. The most
+useful [Managed Chaining](https://github.com/dotnet/Silk.NET/blob/main/documentation/structure-chaining/managed-chaining.md),
+makes it much easier, _and safer_, to work with Vulkan Structure Chains. For example, the above code can now be written
+as:
+
+```csharp
+using var features2 = Chain.Create<PhysicalDeviceFeatures2, PhysicalDeviceDescriptorIndexingFeatures,
+    PhysicalDeviceAccelerationStructureFeaturesKHR>();
+vk.GetPhysicalDeviceFeatures2(device, features2);
+```
+
+The new `Chain` classes manage the lifetime of the structures for you and they can be safely stored on the
+heap, like any object. They also efficiently handle the `SType` and `PNext` fields, ensuring they are always correct. It is
+also easy to modify and manipulate the chains. What is less obvious from the above example is that we are now able to
+validate that `PhysicalDeviceFeatures2` can be used as the _start_ of a chain, and that
+both `PhysicalDeviceDescriptorIndexingFeatures` and `PhysicalDeviceAccelerationStructureFeaturesKHR` are valid
+structures to appear in such a chain. That validation occurs at compile time, meaning that most modern IDEs will give
+you error 'squiggles' as soon as you try and use an invalid structure (according to the Vulkan Specification)!
+
+That 'magic' is possible due to a set of new interfaces we've added to Vulkan Structures to indicate when they can be
+used in chains, and, when the Vulkan Specification explicitly states it, what chains they can be used in. All without
+effecting runtime performance.
+
+Full documentation is
+available [here](https://github.com/dotnet/Silk.NET/blob/main/documentation/structure-chaining/overview.md), and we
+can't wait for you to start using the new features!  If they prove popular, we plan on expanding the functionality to
+other APIs supported by Silk.NET.

website/blog/index.cshtml

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
         "Url": "index.html",
         "_comment": "Order the children newest (at the top) to oldest!",
         "Children": [
+            { "Url": "::dec-2021/structure-chaining.md" },
             { "Url": "::nov-2021/xamarin-deprecation.md" },
             { "Url": "::mar-2021/dotnetfoundation.md" },
             { "Url": "::feb-2021/buildtools.md" },