* All data types and operations are defined in the gmtl * namespace. * Thus all types must be prefixed with the gmtl:: * scope or a using gmtl; command can be used to bring all * of the GMTL functionality into the local scope. * * @subsection Types Supplied GMTL Math Types * GMTL comes with many math data types: Vec, Point, Matrix, Quat, Coord, * Sphere. * Please read the programmer's guide for more detailed information. * Or read on for a light overview on what GMTL is. * * @section Overview A Light Overview Of GMTL * GMTL stands for (G)eneric (M)ath * (T)emplate (L)ibrary. * It is a math library designed to be high-performance, * extensible, and generic. The design is based upon discussion with many * experts in the field of computer graphics and virtual reality and is the * culmination of many previous graphics math library efforts. GMTL gives * the graphics programmer several core math types and a rich library of * graphics/math operations on those types. * * @subsection Design Design * The design of GMTL allows extensibility while mantaining a stable core. * Core data types are separated from operations. This allows anyone to write * their own math routines to extend or replace parts of the GMTL. This * feature * allows a very stable core set of math primitives that seldom change due to * extensions, maintainance, or programmer error. *
* All math primitives in GMTL use generic programming techniques * to give the programmer many options to define their data. For example, * matrices * and vectors can be any dimension and any type. GMTL suffers no loss of * performance * due to these generalities because the parameter choices made are bound * at compile time. * * @subsection Implementation Implementation * GMTL is implemented using generic programming and template metaprogramming. * Generic * programming allows selection by the user of size and type information for * all * data types in GMTL. For example, the generic Matrix type allows a * programmer * to select between any size (N x M) and any datatype (float, double, * int...). * The selection of these parameters is done through template * parameters. To ease the use of these parameters, the system declares * several typedefs that capture commonly used options. *
* Requested data types are statically bound and optimized by the compiler. * The operations supplied with GMTL are implemented generically using a * technique * called template metaprogramming. Template metaprogramming * allows things such as loops to be unrolled and conditionals to be * evaluated * by the compiler. Things such as loops and conditionals are * evaluated statically, rather than at runtime. In addition, advanced * optimizations * can be performed that do this such as eliminate temporary variables and * other * intermediate computations. The result is compiled code that can behave as * fast * (or faster) then using traditional hand-coding methods such as loop * unrolling, etc... * * @subsection Testing Testing * GMTL has an integrated test suite included in the source code distribution. * The suite tests GMTL for correctness as well as performance degradation. * The GMTL developers have put much time and effort into the test suite * because * we think that it will ensure that the code stays stable when changes are * made, * and that changes don't introduce performance hits. The bottom line is, * if any * behaviour changes in GMTL we want to know about it before it bites us. * As a result * of this philosophy, any contributions to GMTL also need to be well * tested. * Submissions will not be accepted without tests for correctness and * performance. * * */ /** @defgroup Defines Global Flags: Xelt, XYZ, etc... * Constant Static Global Flags */ /** @defgroup Math C Math Abstraction: sin, cos, tan, Min, Max, PI * We've abstracted C math to be cross platform and typesafe. */ /** @defgroup Types Abstract Data Types: Matrix, Vec, Quat, Coord, Sphere, Plane * GMTL comes with many math data types: Vec, Point, Matrix, Quat, Coord, Sphere. */ /** @defgroup Ops Mathematical Operations: add(...), sub(...), mul(...), div(...), invert(...), dot(...), cross(...) * Implements fundamental mathematical operations such as +, -, *, invert, dot product. */ /** @defgroup Transforms Spacial Transformers: xform( ... ), operator*( ... ). * Transform points and vectors by Matrices and Quaternions. Note that xform * is defined differently for Point and Vec. By Point is a full xform, by Vec * is only a rotation. */ /** @defgroup Compare Comparison: isEqual(...), isEquiv(...), ==, != * Tests for equality between GMTL data types. */ /** @defgroup Generate Generators: make( ... ), set( ... ). * Make get and set functions for all math types in gmtl. */ /** @defgroup Interp Interpolation: lerp(...), slerp(...) * Functions to interpolate between two values. */ /** @defgroup Output Output Stream Methods: operator<<( ... ). * Output GMTL data types to an ostream. std::ostream& operator<< methods... */ /** @defgroup Meta Template Metaprogramming Utilities */ /** @defgroup HelperMeta Template Metaprogramming Utilities (Helpers) */