Dear Tinku,
DirectX is the computer terminolgy,

DirectX is a set of standard commands and functions that software developers can use when creating their programs. While any Windows-based software program can include DirectX commands, they are usually used in video games. For example, developers may use DirectX for controlling video playback, sound effects, and peripheral input (such as a keyboard, mouse, or joystick). By incorporating DirectX functions into a computer game, programmers can use predefined commands to manage the video and sound of their game, as well as user input. This makes it easier for programmers to develop video games and also helps the games look more uniform, since DirectX games use many of the same commands.
Technically, DirectX is known as an application programming interface (API), which consists of predefined functions and commands. In order to create programs that use DirectX, software developers must use the DirectX software development kit, available from Microsoft. However, most users need only the DirectX "End-User Runtime" installed on their computer in order to run DirectX-enabled software. The DirectX API is available for Windows software and Xbox video games.
thanks,jignesh

Answered by JIGNESH , an ibibo Specialist, at 5:38 PM on October 09, 2008

Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. DirectX, then, was the generic term for all of these APIs and became the name of the collection. After the introduction of the Xbox, Microsoft has also released multiplatform game development APIs such as XInput, which are designed to supplement or replace individual DirectX components.

Direct3D (the 3D graphics API within DirectX) is widely used in the development of computer games for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Xbox, and Microsoft Xbox 360. Direct3D is also used by other software applications for visualization and graphics tasks. In CAD/CAM engineering, for instance, it rivals the OpenGL by its ability to quickly render 3D graphics on DirectX-compatible graphics hardware. As Direct3D is the most widely publicized component of DirectX, it is common to see the names "DirectX" and "Direct3D" used interchangeably.

The DirectX software development kit (SDK) consists of runtime libraries in redistributable binary form, along with accompanying documentation and headers for use in coding. Originally, the runtimes were only installed by games or explicitly by the user. Windows 95 did not launch with DirectX, but DirectX was included with Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2. Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 both shipped with DirectX, as has every version of Windows released since. The SDK is available as a free download. While the runtimes are proprietary, closed-source software, source code is provided for most of the SDK samples.

The latest versions of Direct3D, namely, Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 9Ex, are only officially available for Windows Vista, because each of these new versions were built to depend upon the new Windows Display Driver Model that was introduced for Windows Vista. The new Vista/WDDM graphics architecture includes a new video memory manager that supports virtualizing graphics hardware to multiple applications and services such as the Desktop Window Manager


Regards
Deep Sukhwani

Answered by Deep , an ibibo Master, at 10:11 AM on October 09, 2008

hai shukla,

DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. DirectX, then, was the generic term for all of these APIs and became the name of the collection. After the introduction of the Xbox, Microsoft has also released multiplatform game development APIs such as XInput, which are designed to supplement or replace individual DirectX components.

Direct3D (the 3D graphics API within DirectX) is widely used in the development of computer games for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Xbox, and Microsoft Xbox 360. Direct3D is also used by other software applications for visualization and graphics tasks. In CAD/CAM engineering, for instance, it rivals the OpenGL by its ability to quickly render 3D graphics on DirectX-compatible graphics hardware. As Direct3D is the most widely publicized component of DirectX, it is common to see the names "DirectX" and "Direct3D" used interchangeably
this is taken from source :-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire ctX

Answered by Venkata , an ibibo Specialist, at 3:35 PM on October 08, 2008

The DirectX Software Development Kit (SDK) includes tools that let a developer create or integrate graphic images, overlays, sprites, and other game elements, including sound.

There is also a Driver Development Kit (DDK) that lets developers create drivers for display, audio, and other I/O devices.

DirectX is part of Microsoft's larger vision of an object-oriented development environment. For example, a sprite is created as an instance of a sprite class.

Developers can also take advantage of Microsoft's set of prepackaged routines or small programs that are part of the Microsoft Foundation Class Library.

DirectX consists of five components:

* DirectDraw, an interface that lets you define two-dimensional images, specify textures, and manage double buffers (a technique for changing images)
* Direct3D, an interface for creating three-dimensional images
* DirectSound, an interface for integrating and coordinating sound with the images
* DirectPlay, a plug-in for end users, is also used by developers to test their application
* DirectInput, an interface for input from I/O devices

Answered by Abhi Singh , an ibibo Master, at 2:18 PM on October 08, 2008