Nvidia Launches Cg Graphics Language

Nvidia introduced the Cg Language Specification ("C for Graphics"), which the company hopes will speed the development of shaders and other visual effects. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, Cg is compatible with Microsoft's recently announced High Level Shading Language for DirectX 9. Nvidia also unveiled a Cg Toolkit to support the rollout of the Cg language. The Toolkit includes a Cg Compiler (a cross-platform compiler that supports programs written for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Xbox), Cg Browser, CgFX file format, Cg Standard Library and a collection of pre-written Cg shaders. The Nvidia Cg Toolkit will be available to developers attending "The Gathering 2", a conference in London on June 13-14, and for download at http://developer.nvidia.com/cg. A white paper on the language spec can be found at http://developer.nvidia.com/docs/IO/2877/ATT/Cg_Specification.pdf.