BZLZHH 9be5d95440 [Perf] (MG_Backend): give DirectGLES unit bindings an epoch the sampler churn cannot fake
The texture-binding memos added earlier keyed on the frontend texture-bind
generation, and 26.2-style unit switching defeats them: glBindSampler bumps the
generation even when it re-binds the sampler the unit already carries, so a
frame that cycles active units re-ran the full two-pass, eleven-slot alias
resolution and the unbind walks on every draw. mc_sampler_churn sat at 1674
ns/op against the native driver's 239 - the worst multiplier left on this
backend - with about half the time in two virtual calls per binding slot.

The units now carry an epoch: a snapshot of each touched unit's slot objects and
sampler object, compared by weak_ptr OWNERSHIP rather than raw pointer - a held
weak_ptr pins its control block, so a freed-and-recycled object can never
owner-equal its predecessor, which is the ABA hole a pointer key would have and
the reason version keying was rejected (WithTemporarilyBoundNamedTexture bumps
slot versions without touching the bind generation). The
(context id, bind generation, high-water mark) triple gates the snapshot walk to
at most once per draw; the epoch moves only when a binding really changed. Both
per-draw memos key on the epoch plus the sampling-resolution generation, which
carries what the epoch cannot see: a default texture's image appearing, and
every completeness input. Two smaller memos ride along: the per-unit
sampler-registry lookup (owner-keyed, misses never cached - the backend object
may be created later in the same draw), and the pending-vertex-attribute mask,
whose first version scanned all 32 slots and put +10% on the VAO-cycling case
before being restricted to the program's active locations.

ns per op, DriverBench on a GTX 1660 SUPER, isolated A/B, all nine cases on both
backends: mc_sampler_churn 1673 -> 732, mc_use_program 4513 -> 4279,
mc_state_toggle 2365 -> 2247, everything else within noise and nothing worse.
7.0x native to 3.1x on the churn case.

Unit tests 421/421.
2026-08-06 11:20:52 -04:00

MobileGL

C++ GNU LGPL 3.0 Development

A desktop OpenGL implementation

MobileGL is a free and open-source project that implements a desktop OpenGL API. The goal is to provide a complete desktop OpenGL implementation with a state management layer and multi-backend support.

Note

Status: In development. Parts of the codebase are incomplete. Current short-term target: OpenGL 4.2 (Core Profile).

Project positioning

MobileGL is an implementation of a desktop OpenGL library. It aims to provide:

  • Full OpenGL state management.
  • A front-end that exposes OpenGL functions.
  • Multiple independent backend implementations, where each backend targets a specific graphics API and remains fully isolated from others.

This project is intended as an implementation/translation layer.

Key components

The repository is organized into following top-level modules:

  1. MG_State — state tracking and management logic for Graphics APIs.
  2. MG_Impl — front-end implementations of Graphics APIs that interact with MG_State and MG_Backend.
  3. MG_Backend — per-backend translation layer that maps front-end Graphics APIs' semantics and state into concrete backend API calls (e.g. OpenGL ES, Vulkan).
  4. MG_Util and other utility modules.

Third-party components

MobileGL reuses several open-source projects:

Refer to each component's repository for exact license texts. Any bundled third-party code in this repository is included under the upstream project's license.

Compatibility & target

  • Short-term target: OpenGL 4.2 (Core Profile).
  • Current development focus:
    • Performance improvement
    • MG_State and MG_Impl for OpenGL 4.2 (Core Profile)
    • Direct (Vulkan) backend
    • Direct (OpenGL ES) backend

Build Instructions

We currently provide no releases and no precompiled binaries.
If you want to try the project right now, youll need to build it yourself:

  1. Clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/MobileGL-Dev/MobileGL.git
    
  2. Initialize and update all submodules recursively:

    git submodule update --init --recursive
    
  3. Follow glslangs own documentation for its required initiation.

  4. Configure and build the project with CMake:

    cmake -B build
    cmake --build build
    

    or do it in a modern way:

    cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++
    cmake --build build
    

    Alternatively, you can use platform-specific build commands as needed.

Build For macOS

On macOS, MobileGL can be built as a dylib that exposes the normal OpenGL/CGL/NSOpenGL entry points and routes them to the DirectVulkan backend. This is useful for running applications such as Minecraft through their stock GLFW/LWJGL OpenGL path while MobileGL is injected before context creation.

Prerequisites:

  • macOS with Clang and Ninja.
  • Vulkan loader and MoltenVK installed. With Homebrew, the MoltenVK ICD is commonly located at /opt/homebrew/etc/vulkan/icd.d/MoltenVK_icd.json.

Configure and build:

cmake -S . -B build-macos-magma \
  -G Ninja \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DMOBILEGL_BACKEND_TYPE=DirectVulkan \
  -DMOBILEGL_BUILD_TEST=OFF \
  -DMOBILEGL_BUILD_BENCHMARK=OFF

cmake --build build-macos-magma --target MobileGL -j8

The dylib will be generated at:

build-macos-magma/libMobileGL.dylib

To run Minecraft by MobileGL from a launcher like PrismLauncher, keep the stock LWJGL/GLFW natives and add a wrapper command to the instance settings:

env DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES=/absolute/path/to/MobileGL/build-macos-magma/libMobileGL.dylib MOBILEGL_BACKEND_TYPE=DirectVulkan VK_ICD_FILENAMES=/opt/homebrew/etc/vulkan/icd.d/MoltenVK_icd.json

Also make sure the JVM arguments include:

-XstartOnFirstThread

DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES must be active before GLFW creates its OpenGL context. After startup, the Minecraft F3 screen should report MobileGL and the Direct (Vulkan) backend if the injection worked.

Build Options

Option Description Default
MOBILEGL_BUILD_TEST Build MobileGL tests (requires Clang) ON
MOBILEGL_BUILD_BENCHMARK Build MobileGL benchmarks (requires Clang) ON
MOBILEGL_FORCE_RELEASE_OPT Enable O3 and LTO in Debug build ON
MOBILEGL_ENABLE_TRACY Enable Tracy profiler for performance analysis OFF

Notes:

  • The project requires C++23.
  • MG_Test and MG_Benchmark can only be built with Clang, not GCC. To enforce Clang, add -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++ to your command.
  • On Android, tests and benchmarks are always disabled.

Environment Variables

MobileGL supports runtime configuration via environment variables.

Supported Keys

Variable Description Allowed Values Default
MOBILEGL_BACKEND_TYPE Select active backend implementation at startup. DirectGLES, DirectVulkan DirectGLES
MOBILEGL_DISABLE_TIMERQUERY Disable GPU timer-query exposure and use. 0, 1 0
MOBILEGL_USE_ANGLE Load ANGLE EGL/GLES libraries. 0, 1 0
MOBILEGL_DISABLE_SUBGROUP Disable Vulkan shader subgroup support. 0, 1 0
MOBILEGL_MAGMA_R11G11B10F_FALLBACK Use Magma's R11G11B10F format fallback. 0, 1 0
MOBILEGL_MAGMA_FRAMESINFLIGHT Set Magma frames in flight. Integer 164 3
MOBILEGL_AVOID_SAMPLER_MIPMAP_MIN_FILTER Avoid sampler mipmap minification filters. 0, 1 0
MOBILEGL_COHERENT_AS_FLUSH Treat persistent GL_MAP_FLUSH_EXPLICIT_BIT maps as coherent (app-compat for engines like Flywheel that never flush them). 0, 1 0
VK_ICD_FILENAMES Select the Vulkan ICD used by the Vulkan loader. Path to an ICD JSON file Loader default

License

This project is distributed under GNU LGPL v3.0. See the LICENSE file in the repository for detailed information.

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