Merge branch 'source' into feature/ludusavi

content/posts/newsletter-012/index.md

@@ -195,6 +195,139 @@ The full article is available [here][dod].
 
 ## Library & Tooling Updates
 
+### [This Month in Mun][mun-july]
+
+[![Mun logo](mun-logo.png)][Mun]
+
+[Mun] is a scripting language for gamedev focused on quick iteration times
+that is written in Rust.
+
+[Rustacean Station][rustacean] released [a podcast about Mun][rustacean-mun]
+in which the Mun Core Team sat down with host Jeremy
+to talk about why they chose Rust to develop Mun. If you are interested in
+having an inside look into Mun's origins and evolution, we recommend you check
+it out - or any of Rustacean Station's other podcasts for that matter!
+
+Their additional [July updates][mun-july] include:
+
+- initial support for the Language Server Protocol;
+- a community entry for the [Make It or Break It content] of Spaceship
+  recreated with Mun & Rust;
+- CLI support for creating Mun projects;
+- performance benchmarks and improvements;
+- bugfixes and improved documentation.
+
+[Mun]: https://mun-lang.org
+[mun-july]: https://mun-lang.org/blog/2020/07/30/this-month-july
+[rustacean]: https://rustacean-station.org
+[rustacean-mun]: https://rustacean-station.org/episode/020-mun
+[Make It or Break It content]: https://github.com/mun-lang/mun/issues/220
+
+### [wgpu][wgpu-site]
+
+![procgen dynamic "grass field"](tuitui-grass-field.jpeg)
+
+^ _[@MacTuitui]'s everyday [nannou] experiement #1274_
+
+The work is ongoing to validate all the incoming commands and guarantee API safety.
+Special thanks to [@GabrielMajeri] for helping to convert assertions
+into errors at `wgpu` level.
+The wgpu devs are also introspecting shader requirements
+and matching them against the pipelines, but this will take more effort
+before it will become universally available.
+
+[@cwfitzgerald] has been busy adding a few handy native-only extensions,
+such as descriptor indexing and push constants.
+They have also converted the project's logging to [tracing](https://crates.io/crates/tracing),
+setting up the infrastructure for CPU profiling.
+
+In the past 2 months, the API for descriptor structures in `wgpu-rs`
+have been undergoing a turbulent period.
+First, non-exhaustive semantics led to introduction of constructors.
+Then, efforts to reduce code duplication inside `wgpu` project has led to the
+[bovine invasion](https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu-rs/pull/460) on wgpu-rs API side.
+The devs are figuring out the plan to address that with a builder pattern now,
+which will address both the `Cow`s and non-exhaustives,
+hopefully putting the end to the turbulence.
+
+In the meantime, `wgpu-rs` ecosystem is flourishing with applications and libraries.
+The [showcase gallery](https://wgpu.rs/#showcase) was updated with a few shiny images.
+
+------
+
+Finally, [@kunalmohan] has been busy
+[implementing WebGPU in Servo][webgpu-in-servo], based on `wgpu`.
+Thanks to this work, Servo is currently ahead of Gecko
+in terms of API being up-to-date and covered 🎉.
+It's already capable of rendering most of the examples,
+and the devs are looking forward to the day when the same Rust code
+(rendering with `wgpu-rs`) will be deployable to the Web,
+and viewable from Firefox, Servo, Chrome, and other browsers.
+
+[@GabrielMajeri]: https://github.com/GabrielMajeri
+[@cwfitzgerald]: https://github.com/cwfitzgerald
+[@kunalmohan]: https://github.com/kunalmohan
+[webgpu-in-servo]: https://github.com/servo/servo/projects/24
+[@MacTuitui]: https://twitter.com/MacTuitui
+[nannou]: https://nannou.cc
+[wgpu-site]: https://wgpu.rs
+
+### [Graphene][graphene] - Vulkan Render Graph
+
+![execution flow example](graphene.png)
+
+[Graphene][graphene] is a Vulkan render graph. Still heavily a work in progress,
+it is built to be a simpler abstraction over Vulkan, with long-term ambitions to
+serve as a graphics test-bench.
+
+Currently, it implements a mesh render pass followed by a chromatic aberration
+post-process in less than [250 lines of Rust code][graphene_example_code].
+Current features include easy Vulkan initialization, automatic swapchain
+resizing, glTF mesh loading, and shader hot-reloading.
+Check out a ["Render graphs" blog post][graphene_blog]
+for a more in-depth introduction to the project.
+
+![chromatic aberration demo](graphene-demo.jpeg)
+
+You can follow progress on [GitHub][graphene] or on [Twitter][apoorvaj].
+
+[graphene]: https://github.com/ApoorvaJ/graphene
+[graphene_blog]: https://apoorvaj.io/render-graphs-1/
+[graphene_example_code]: https://github.com/ApoorvaJ/graphene/blob/a1ee574d92445f4cff195ca517af2912ebfce697/src/demos/00/main.rs
+[apoorvaj]: https://twitter.com/ApoorvaJ
+
+### Vulkan Renderer (Name TBD)
+
+[![Vulkan renderer on iOS prototype](vulkan-renderer-prototype.jpeg)][vulkan-renderer-prototype-video]
+
+^ _Click to watch [the video demo][vulkan-renderer-prototype-video] running on iOS._
+
+[@aclysma] published a [new vulkan-based renderer][renderer-prototype] that
+uses [atelier-assets] to load 3D scenes exported from blender.
+
+> The objective of this repo is to build a scalable, flexible, data driven
+> renderer. Scalable in the sense of performance as well as suitability for
+> use in large, real-world projects. This means streaming, LODs, visibility
+> systems, and multi-threaded draw call submission need to be possible.
+> Additionally it means thinking through how an asset pipeline would work for
+> a team with dedicated artists and supporting workflow-friendly features
+> like hot reloading assets, possibly on remote devices.
+
+This video demonstrates the renderer running on iOS and receiving asset updates
+via wifi. The scene is "sponza" exported from blender. Vulkan is supported on
+windows and linux natively. Support for macOS and iOS is via the
+well-established [MoltenVK][moltenvk] project.
+
+The demo was ported from PC to iOS over a single weekend and out of
+approximately 300 crate dependencies (including complex, OS-specific ones like
+tokio), all but a few worked out-of-the-box!
+
+[@aclysma]: https://twitter.com/aclysma
+[renderer-prototype]: https://github.com/aclysma/renderer_prototype
+[atelier-assets]: https://github.com/amethyst/atelier-assets
+[vulkan-renderer-prototype-video]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks_HQbejHE4
+[moltenvk]: https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK
+
 ### [Ludusavi]
 
 ![Demo of Ludusavi GUI](ludusavi.gif)
@@ -217,6 +350,38 @@ released.
 [plugin]: https://github.com/mtkennerly/ludusavi-playnite
 [Playnite]: https://playnite.link
 
+### [Langcraft]
+
+[Langcraft] is the Minecraft LLVM target you've never wanted.
+
+Langcraft started as a dare to the `#lang-dev` channel of the Rust
+Community Discord to be able to parse Rust code in Minecraft.
+Naturally, it grew into a full code generator that can translate
+most LLVM IR to
+[Minecraft data packs](https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Data_Pack),
+the game's deliberately-limited in-game scripting language. Langcraft
+is entirely language independent, so any language with an LLVM-based
+compiler can (with the right API bindings) run in Minecraft. Currently
+bindings to both C and Rust exist. While not as visually impressive as
+a redstone computer, Langcraft does stretch the bounds of the game quite
+a bit, using jukeboxes for memory, armor stands to represent pointers,
+and rearranging compiled code to make it run in the bounds of the data
+packs' fixed instruction limit.
+
+This is all, naturally, entirely useless. The project is also still
+heavily work-in-progress and does not pretend to be stable, but it is
+usable. A handwritten interpreter for a Rust-like language has already
+been demonstrated running, and even more complex projects like [CHIP-8
+emulators](https://github.com/Dhole/chip8-rs.git) function (albeit at
+extremely slow speed).
+
+You can watch a [video of Rust interpreter running Fizzbuzz][langcraft-video]:
+
+[![youtube preview](longcraft-video.jpeg)][langcraft-video]
+
+[Langcraft]: https://github.com/SuperTails/langcraft
+[langcraft-video]: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cx0w5Wn9pPU
+
 ## Popular Workgroup Issues in Github
 
 <!-- Up to 10 links to interesting issues -->