Retained mode
Graphics libraries API design pattern / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Retained mode in computer graphics is a major pattern of API design in graphics libraries,[1] in which
- the graphics library, instead of the client, retains the scene (complete object model of the rendering primitives) to be rendered and
- the client calls into the graphics library do not directly cause actual rendering, but make use of extensive indirection to resources, managed – thus retained – by the graphics library.[2] It does not preclude the use of double-buffering.[3]
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Immediate mode is an alternative approach. Historically, retained mode has been the dominant style in GUI libraries;[4] however, both can coexist in the same library and are not necessarily exclusionary in practice.[5]