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. The name Direct
X was coined as shorthand term for all of these APIs (the X standing in for the particular API names) and soon became the name of the collection. When Microsoft later set out to develop a gaming console, the X was used as the basis of the name
Xbox to indicate that the console was based on DirectX technology. The X initial has been carried forward in the naming of APIs designed for the Xbox such as
XInput and the
Cross-platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT), while the DirectX pattern has been continued for Windows APIs such as
Direct2D and
DirectWrite.
