ResourceFactory

The ResourceFactory creates every GPU object. You reach it through the GraphicsContext, and from then on it is the only allocator you use:

var vertexBufferDescription = new BufferDescription(
    (uint)Unsafe.SizeOf<VertexPositionNormalTexture>() * (uint)vertexData.Length,
    BufferFlags.VertexBuffer,
    ResourceUsage.Default);

var vertexBuffer = this.graphicsContext.Factory.CreateBuffer(vertexData, ref vertexBufferDescription);

Every object it returns is an abstract type, and the concrete class matches the backend the context was created for. The factory of a DX11GraphicsContext always returns DirectX 11 resources (DX11Texture, DX11Buffer, and so on), and your code never names them. That is what lets one set of resource creation calls run on every backend.

What it creates

Method	Returns	Page
CreateBuffer	Buffer	Buffer
CreateTexture	Texture	Texture
CreateTextureView	TextureView	Texture
CreateSamplerState	SamplerState	Sampler
CreateShader	Shader	Shader
CreateResourceLayout	ResourceLayout	ResourceLayout
CreateResourceSet	ResourceSet	ResourceSet
CreateFrameBuffer	FrameBuffer	Framebuffer
CreateGraphicsPipeline	GraphicsPipelineState	GraphicsPipeline
CreateComputePipeline	ComputePipelineState	ComputePipeline
CreateRaytracingPipeline	RaytracingPipelineState	RaytracingPipeline
CreateMeshShaderPipeline	MeshShaderPipelineState
CreateCommandQueue	CommandQueue	CommandQueue
CreateQueryHeap	QueryHeap	QueryHeap

Two objects the factory does not create

Object	Where it comes from
CommandBuffer	commandQueue.CommandBuffer(). See CommandBuffer.
SwapChain	graphicsContext.CreateSwapChain(description). See Swapchain.

A command buffer is drawn from its queue's pool rather than allocated, which is what makes it single use. A swapchain is tied to a surface rather than to the device alone, so it is created from the context.

Descriptions are passed by reference

Most Create methods take their description with ref:

var textureDescription = new TextureDescription() { /* ... */ };
var texture = this.graphicsContext.Factory.CreateTexture(ref textureDescription);

The description is a struct, and ref avoids copying it. It is not modified, so the same description can create several resources.

Note

This means you cannot pass a description inline as CreateTexture(ref new TextureDescription()). Assign it to a local first.

Validation

Every Create method has a validation step that runs when the device was created with a ValidationLayer. It checks descriptions for combinations the backend would reject later, at a point where the error still names what you asked for:

graphicsContext.CreateDevice(new ValidationLayer());

Turn it on during development. See GraphicsContext for the ways it can report.

Disposing

Every object the factory returns implements IDisposable, and none of them is collected for you. Dispose in reverse order of dependency: pipelines before the shaders they were built from, resource sets before the layouts they fill, and everything before the context.

Important

Wait for the GPU before disposing anything it may still be reading, with commandQueue.WaitIdle(). Freeing a resource that is still in flight is a use after free on the GPU, and it usually shows up as a device removed error rather than as anything that names the resource.