Project on google code:
http://code.google.com/p/canvasplusplus/wiki/Start
What is Canvas++?
Canvas++ is a project to create a class to abstract drawing in different devices. The class interface is based on the standard html5 canvas element.
Why to use html canvas interface?
The Html 5 is a very strong starndard. There are many devices like tablets smart phones and different OS implementing Html 5 compatible browsers. It means that every device is going to support the drawing as specified in the canvas element. For this reason, canvas interface it's a safe choice very documented with a lot of samples available in the web.
C++ is an ISO standard language with good abstractions and very fast. It is used by a large number of platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, IOs etc. These characteristics make C++ a perfect choice to create applications that reuse code between different platforms and at the same time have access to native features and the best performance.
Although many devices have a screen in common (most of them have a web browser as well) there is no standard native way to draw on the screen. The canvas++ will allow C++ programmers to collaborate and have the same standard interface used on the web to drawing on the screen.
This specification defines the 2D Context for the HTML canvas element.
http://dev.w3.org/html5/2dcontext/#dom-context-2d
The first plataforms suported will be:
1.1 GDI (started) GDI is very old, the drawing may not be pixel to pixel compatible with the drawing on the web page, however is is very usefull to run in old windows plataforms. [[http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd145203(v=vs.85).aspx]]
1.2 Direct2d Direct 2d (not started), but probably it will be the api used in windows 8 apps.
Can run in MacOS (CGContext) [[http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/GraphicsImaging/Reference/CGContext/Reference/reference.html]]
Can run un iPads and IOs (CGContext)
See canvas_test.html
Canvas