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= Technical summary of XBMC =
= Technical summary of XBMC =
== The basics ==
== The basics ==
The XBMC code structure uses a fairly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Module_%28programming%29 modular design] (with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_%28computing%29 libraries] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic-link_library DLL]s), and we think that there are enough modules/libraries to keep a wide skill-level range of developers busy for a while in the porting of them all. So please, take a look at the source code, then with the help of our To-Do list (see further down in this article) assess where the porting stage is today and think about where and how you can try to help out. Note that we are not planning on completely abandoning the Xbox hardware any time soon - XBMC will be a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-platform cross-platform] software application, using the same code on multiple hardware platforms, (the 'old' Xbox still have a good amount of years to live we hope).
The XBMC code structure uses a fairly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Module_%28programming%29 modular design] (with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_%28computing%29 libraries] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic-link_library DLL]s).


== Detailed technical information ==
== Detailed technical information ==

Revision as of 11:43, 10 August 2012

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Template:XBMC faq toc Inline Team-XBMC have ported the XBMC Media Center software to Windows over a year ago, (for OpenGL using the SDL toolkit), this port is almost as feature complete as XBMC for any other platform and it is currently running very well and stable enough for all people to enjoy using it. The long term goal of Team-XBMC is that downloading XBMC for Windows will become a full port of XBMC with all the features and functions that are available on all other XBMC platforms, so downloading XBMC for Windows will be one version of a multi-platform software.

XBMC is a huge open source project and it takes loads of people working together to maintain it for all platforms, that is why Team-XBMC is always on the lookout for C/C++ programmers to volunteer in assisting us with the development of XBMC. Whether you have contributed to The XBMC Project in the past or not, please consider doing so now.

Note to XBMC end-users! You can help too by downloading XBMC for Windows, testing it, and reporting bugs and issues. Also, spread the word about XBMC for Windows to your friends and family, we are sure they will enjoy it too. XBMC is free and do not contain any spy-ware nor add-ware.

Those of you who are completely unfamiliar with XBMC can get a good overview of the features and functions that XBMC offers for its end-users by reading through the XBMC article on wikipedia.org

Where to start helping out?

End-users (non-programmers)

You can help too by downloading XBMC for Windows, testing it, and reporting bugs and issues. Also, spread the word about XBMC for Windows to your friends and family, we are sure they will enjoy it too.

Developers (programmers)

You should be proficient in C/C++ programming language, and allthough not really required knowledge of OpenGL or multimedia programming is a plus, as well as prior cross-platform or porting development experience. You will not need to have access to an Xbox game-console or any costly special softwares in order to take part. XBMC development of this port is well underway for Windows XP and Windows Vista (32-bit for x86 Intel-processors, or 64-bit in backwards compatibility 32-bit mode).

The Win32 development platform is Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista. There are Visual Studio .NET (2003, 2005, and 2008) project files available in our SVN (Subversion revision control system). After you've done a SVN checkout, follow the install guide in the SVN (README.win32) to setup the required packages and so on. Team-XBMC developers think that the best thing to start with is just to take a look through the source code and try to understand how it all fits together. Test things out, find what works and what does not, then try and track down why.

Hardware requirements

  • 32-bit Intel (x86-processor) based computer with Windows XP or Windows Vista, and a ATI Radeon 9200/X1600, Intel GMA950, or NVIDIA 6-Series 3D GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or later with OpenGL or DirectX compatible video device drivers, (XBMC GUI requires at least OpenGL 1.3 or DirectX 9.0c support to run smoothly at an acceptable frame-rate in standard-definition, to run XBMC high-definition a more modern GPU is recommended).

Technical summary of XBMC

The basics

The XBMC code structure uses a fairly modular design (with libraries and DLLs).

Detailed technical information

For more details please visit the Development Notes section of this manual.

The XBMC source code

The XBMC source code is in our SVN repository on sourceforge.net (Git checkout is also available). Full instructions for compiling/builing XBMC under Windows is available here:

XBMC programming and code formatting convention guidelines

Note! More specifics to come based on ongoing discussions, see Proposed code formatting conventions for XBMC

General guidelines

  • Code documentation (DocBook, rst, or doxygen for the code documentation steps, preferably the latter, doxygen)
  • Self-containment - XBMC should be as little dependent as possible on operating-system and third-party services/deamons/libraries
    • XBMC should for example contain all file-system and network-client (like samba) support built-into the XBMC package
  • Modular design - independent modules made up by localized/isolated code libraries without dependencies
    • XBMC should still compile and run if a non-essencial module/library is disabled or removed
  • Aim for the GUI/interface to run smoothly on a low spec computer (less than 1Ghz)
    • 3D graphic controller (GPU) will always be required hardware for XBMC so try to utilize the GPU as much as possible
  • Avoid harddisk trashing (excess read/write/erase cycles), so no harddrive paging, (utilize RAM memory intead).
  • Fast load and boot times for end-user perception (other thing can still run/start in the background without the user knowledge)

User-friendliness is next to godlyness

XBMC manifesto

See also