DX Compiler Relase for May 2024
This release includes two major new elements:
- The introduction of the first component of HLSL 202x
- The inclusion of clang-built Windows binaries
See the official blog post for a more detailed description of this release.
HLSL 202x is a placeholder designation for what will ultimately be a new language version that further aligns HLSL with modern language features. It is intended to serve as a bridge to help transition to the expected behavior of the modernized compiler.
To experiment with 202x, use the -HV 202x flag. We recommend enabling these warnings as well to catch potential changes in behavior: -Wconversion -Wdouble-promotion -Whlsl-legacy-literal.
The first feature available in 202x updates HLSL's treatment of literals to better conform with C/C++. In previous versions, un-suffixed literal types targeted the highest possible precision. This feature revises that to mostly conform with C/C++ behavior. See the above blog post for details.
Clang-built Windows binaries are included in addition to the MSVC-built binaries that have always been shipped before. The clang-built compiler is expected to improve HLSL compile times in many cases. We are eager for feedback about this build positive or negative, related to compile times or correctness.
This DX compiler release is also available as a NuGet package Microsoft.Direct3D.DXC.
The new DirectX 12 Agility SDK and a hardware driver with appropriate support are required to run shader model 6.8 shaders. Please see https://aka.ms/directx12agility for details.
The SPIR-V backend of the compiler has been enabled in this release.