What is WebGPU?
WebGPU is the new graphics and compute API for the web. It succeeds WebGL, offering low-level GPU access with near-Vulkan/DirectX 12 performance.
Differences from WebGL
WebGPU offers better performance, compute shaders, lower CPU overhead, and a more efficient resource model.
Architecture
Device
The main abstraction representing the GPU. Created from an Adapter.
Queue
Executes commands asynchronously. Commands are grouped in Command Buffers.
Bind Groups
Groups resources (buffers, textures) for shaders. More efficient than WebGL uniforms.
Pipeline
WebGPU uses configurable pipelines: Render Pipeline for graphics and Compute Pipeline for general computation.
Shaders
Uses WGSL (WebGPU Shading Language). Syntax similar to Rust. Shaders compile internally to SPIR-V.
Use cases
Scientific visualization, 3D games in the browser, map rendering, and image processing with compute shaders.
Conclusion
WebGPU represents the future of web graphics. At Vynta we explore WebGPU for data visualization and high-performance interactive experiences.