• OpenGL ES 3.1 Release and Other Announcements: On Monday, OpenGL ES 3.1 was released. Today, the Khronos Group announced several other specifications including WebCL. WebCL defines a JavaScript API for OpenCL 1.1 parallel computation like WebGL does for OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics.
• WebCL's Characteristics: It's a low-level API similar to OpenCL on the desktop. OpenCL routines need to be written in a special C-derived language, familiar to existing OpenCL developers but not traditional Web developers.
• Solutions for WebGL: Twofold - high-level libraries like three.js make 3D programming more accessible and systems like Emscripten and asm.js enable traditional 3D programs to run directly in the browser.
• Khronos' Anticipation: Companion technologies will be developed for WebCL similar to those for WebGL.
• WebCL and Security: It doesn't encompass the full OpenCL spec. Certain features with security implications are limited or removed to ensure web content doesn't compromise system security.
• Competing GPU-based Compute Systems: Microsoft's C++ AMP and Nvidia's CUDA-compatible Thrust offer a more streamlined development model with seamless integration of GPU and CPU code.
• SYCL: Khronos produced SYCL, an API specification that provides C++ compiler developers tools to integrate with OpenCL, offering single-source development like in AMP.
• EGL 1.5: The third announced spec. It defines how software initializes access to OpenGL ES and OpenCL and coordinates between them. It improves interoperability and has 64-bit support. Windows and OS X use their own extension APIs, while the new Wayland windowing system uses EGL.