PySDL2 for Pygamers¶

Care to move to a newer SDL with your Pygame knowledge? Then you should know one thing or two about PySDL2 before hacking code, since it is completely different from Pygame. Do not let that fact scare you away, the basics with graphics and sound are still the same (as they are fundamental), but you will not find many similarities to the Pygame API within PySDL2.

Todo

More details, examples, etc.

Technical differences¶

Pygame is implemented as a mixture of Python, C and Assembler code, wrapping 3rd party libraries with CPython API interfaces. PySDL2 in contrast is written in pure Python, using ctypes to interface with the C interfaces of 3rd party libraries.

API differences¶

pygame¶

pygame	sdl2
`init()`	`sdl2.SDL_Init()` where appropriate
`quit()`	`sdl2.SDL_Quit()` where appropriate
`error`	No equivalent
`get_error()`	`sdl2.SDL_GetError()`
`set_error()`	`sdl2.SDL_SetError()`
`get_sdl_version()`	`sdl2.SDL_GetVersion()`
`get_sdl_byteorder()`	`sdl2.SDL_BYTEORDER`
`register_quit()`	No equivalent planned
`encode_string()`	No equivalent planned
`encode_file_path()`	No equivalent planned

sdl2.ext.init() initializes only the video subsystem. By comparison, pygame.init() initializes all Pygame submodules (which includes initializing other SDL subsystems).

pygame.cdrom¶

PySDL2 does not feature any CD-ROM related interfaces. They were removed in SDL2 and PySDL2 does not provide its own facilities.

pygame.Color¶

You can find a similar class in sdl2.ext.Color. It does not feature a set_length() or correct_gamma() method, though.

pygame.cursors¶

PySDL2 does not feature any pre-defined cursor settings at the moment.

pygame.display¶

pygame.display	sdl2
`init()`	`sdl2.ext.init()`
`quit()`	`sdl2.ext.quit()`
`get_init()`	`sdl2.SDL_WasInit()`
`set_mode()`	`sdl2.ext.Window`
`get_surface()`	`sdl2.ext.Window.get_surface()`
`flip()`	`sdl2.ext.Window.refresh()`
`update()`	`sdl2.ext.Window.refresh()`
`get_driver()`	`sdl2.SDL_GetCurrentVideoDriver()`
`Info`	No equivalent
`get_wm_info()`	`sdl2.SDL_GetWindowWMInfo()`
`list_modes()`	`sdl2.SDL_GetNumDisplayModes()`
`mode_ok()`	`sdl2.SDL_GetClosestDisplayMode()`
`gl_get_attribute()`	`sdl2.SDL_GL_GetAttribute()`
`gl_set_attribute()`	`sdl2.SDL_GL_SetAttribute()`
`get_active()`	No equivalent
`iconify()`	`sdl2.ext.Window.minimize()`
`toggle_fullscreen()`	`sdl2.SDL_SetWindowFullscreen()`
`set_gamma()`	`sdl2.SDL_SetWindowBrightness()`
`set_gamma_ramp()`	`sdl2.SDL_SetWindowGammaRamp.()`
`set_icon()`	`sdl2.SDL_SetWindowIcon()`
`set_caption()`	`sdl2.ext.Window.title`
`get_caption()`	`sdl2.ext.Window.title`
`set_palette()`	`sdl2.SDL_SetSurfacePalette()`

pygame.draw¶

Drawing primitives can be accessed through either the sdl2.SDL_RenderDraw*() and sdl2.SDL_RenderFill*() functions or the more powerful sdl2.sdlgfx module,

pygame.event¶

pygame.event	sdl2
`pump()`	`sdl2.SDL_PumpEvents()`
`get()`	`sdl2.SDL_PollEvent()` or `sdl2.ext.get_events()`
`poll()`	`sdl2.SDL_PollEvent()`
`wait()`	`sdl2.SDL_WaitEvent()`
`peek()`	`sdl2.SDL_PeepEvents()`
`clear()`	`sdl2.SDL_FlushEvents()`
`event_name()`	No equivalent
`set_blocked()`	`sdl2.SDL_EventState()`
`get_blocked()`	`sdl2.SDL_EventState()`
`set_allowed()`	`sdl2.SDL_EventState()`
`set_grab()`	`sdl2.SDL_SetWindowGrab()`
`get_grab()`	`sdl2.SDL_GetWindowGrab()`
`post()`	`sdl2.SDL_PeepEvents()`
`Event`	`sdl2.SDL_Event`

pygame.font¶

PySDL2 has its own Pythonic and flexible font rendering API based on the SDL_ttf library. See sdl2.ext.FontTTF for more information.

pygame.font	sdl2
`init()`	`sdl2.sdlttf.TTF_Init()`
`quit()`	`sdl2.sdlttf.TTF_Quit()`
`get_init()`	`sdl2.sdlttf.TTF_WasInit()`
`get_default_font()`	No equivalent planned
`get_fonts()`	No equivalent planned
`match_font()`	No equivalent planned
`SysFont`	No equivalent planned
`Font`	No equivalent planned

pygame.freetype¶

PySDL2 does not feature direct FreeType support.

pygame.gfxdraw¶

PySDL2 offers SDL_gfx support through the sdl2.sdlgfx module.

pygame.image¶

pygame.image	sdl2
`load()`	`sdl2.sdlimage.IMG_Load()`, `sdl2.ext.load_img()`
`save()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_SaveBMP()`, `sdl2.ext.save_bmp()` `sdl2.sdlimage.IMG_SavePNG()`
`get_extended()`	`sdl2.sdlimage.IMG_isBMP()` et al.
`tostring()`	No equivalent yet
`fromstring()`	No equivalent yet
`frombuffer()`	No equivalent yet

pygame.joystick¶

pygame.joystick	sdl2
`init()`	`sdl2.SDL_Init()`
`quit()`	`sdl2.SDL_Quit()`
`get_init()`	`sdl2.SDL_WasInit()`
`get_count()`	`sdl2.joystick.SDL_NumJoysticks()`
`Joystick()`	`sdl2.joystick.SDL_Joystick` and related functions

pygame.key¶

pygame.key	sdl2
`get_focused()`	`sdl2.keyboard.SDL_GetKeyboardFocus()`
`get_pressed()`	`sdl2.keyboard.SDL_GetKeyboardState()`
`get_mods()`	`sdl2.keyboard.SDL_GetModState()`
`set_mods()`	`sdl2.keyboard.SDL_SetModState()`
`set_repeat()`	Based on the OS/WM settings, no equivalent
`get_repeat()`	Based on the OS/WM settings, no equivalent
`name()`	`sdl2.keyboard.SDL_GetKeyName()`

pygame.locals¶

Constants in PySDL2 are spread across the different packages and modules, depending on where they originate from.

pygame.mixer¶

pygame.mixer	sdl2
`init()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_Init()`
`quit()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_Quit()`
`get_init()`	No equivalent planned
`stop()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_HaltChannel()`, `sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_HaltGroup()`, `sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_HaltMusic()`
`pause()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_Pause()`, `sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_PauseMusic()`
`unpause()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_Resume()`, `sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_ResumeMusic()`
`fadeout()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_FadeOutChannel()`, `sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_FadeOutGroup()`, `sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_FadeOutMusic()`
`set_num_channels()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_AllocateChannels()`
`get_num_channels()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_AllocateChannels()`
`set_reserved()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_ReserveChannels()`
`find_channel()`	No equivalent planned
`get_busy()`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_ChannelFinished()`
`Sound`	`sdl2.sdlmixer.Mix_Chunk`
`Channel`	No equivalent, use the channel functions instead

pygame.mixer.music¶

See pygame.mixer.

pygame.mouse¶

pygame.mouse	sdl2
`get_pressed()`	`sdl2.mouse.SDL_GetMouseState()`
`get_pos()`	`sdl2.mouse.SDL_GetMouseState()`
`get_rel()`	`sdl2.mouse.SDL_GetRelativeMouseState()`
`set_pos()`	`sdl2.mouse.SDL_WarpMouseInWindow()`
`set_visible()`	`sdl2.mouse.SDL_ShowCursor()`
`get_focused()`	`sdl2.mouse.SDL_GetMouseFocus()`
`set_cursor()`	`sdl2.mouse.SDL_GetCursor()`
`get_cursor()`	`sdl2.mouse.SDL_SetCursor()`

pygame.movie¶

No such module is planned for PySDL2.

pygame.Overlay¶

You can work with YUV overlays by using the sdl2.render module with sdl2.render.SDL_Texture objects.

pygame.PixelArray¶

You can access pixel data of sprites and surfaces directly via the sdl2.ext.PixelView class. It does not feature comparison or extractions methods.

pygame.Rect¶

No such functionality is available for PySDL2. Rectangles are represented via sdl2.rect.SDL_Rect for low-level SDL2 wrappers or 4-value tuples.

pygame.scrap¶

PySDL2 offers basic text-based clipboard access via the sdl2.clipboard module. A feature-rich clipboard API as for Pygame does not exist yet.

pygame.sndarray¶

No such module is available for PySDL2 yet.

pygame.sprite¶

PySDL2 uses a different approach of rendering and managing sprite objects via a component-based system and the sdl2.ext.Sprite class. A sprite module as for Pygame is not planned.

pygame.Surface¶

pygame.Surface	sdl2
`blit()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_BlitSurface()`, `sdl2.ext.SpriteRenderSystem`
`convert()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_ConvertSurface()`
`convert_alpha()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_ConvertSurface()`
`copy()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_ConvertSurface()`
`fill()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_FillRect()`, `sdl2.surface.SDL_FillRects()`, `sdl2.ext.fill()`
`scroll()`	No equivalent planned
`set_colorkey()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_SetColorKey()`
`get_colorkey()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_GetColorKey()`
`set_alpha()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_SetSurfaceAlphaMod()`
`get_alpha()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_GetSurfaceAlphaMod()`
`lock()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_LockSurface()`
`unlock()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_UnlockSurface()`
`mustlock()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_MUSTLOCK()`
`get_locked()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.locked`
`get_locks()`	No equivalent planned
`get_at()`	Direct access to the pixels for surfaces can be achieved via the `sdl2.ext.PixelView` class
`set_at()`	Direct access to the pixels for surfaces can be achieved via the `sdl2.ext.PixelView` class
`get_at_mapped()`	No equivalent planned
`get_palette()`	via `sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.format` and the `sdl2.pixels.SDL_PixelFormat.palette` attribute
`get_palette_at()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_Palette.colors[offset]`
`set_palette()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_SetSurfacePalette()`
`set_palette_at()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_Palette.colors[offset]`
`map_rgb()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_MapRGB()`
`unmap_rgb()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_GetRGB()`
`set_clip()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_SetClipRect()`
`get_clip()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_GetClipRect()`
`subsurface()`	`sdl2.ext.subsurface()`
`get_parent()`	No equivalent yet
`get_abs_parent()`	As for `get_parent`
`get_offset()`	As for `get_parent`
`get_abs_offset()`	As for `get_parent`
`get_size()`	`sdl2.ext.Sprite.size`, `sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.w`, `sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.h`
`get_width()`	`sdl2.ext.Sprite.size[0]`, `sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.w`,
`get_height()`	`sdl2.ext.Sprite.size[1]`, `sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.h`
`get_rect()`	No equivalent planned
`get_bitsize()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_PixelFormat.BitsPerPixel`
`get_bytesize()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_PixelFormat.BytesPerPixel`
`get_flags()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.flags`
`get_pitch()`	`sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.pitch`
`get_masks()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_PixelFormat.Rmask`, …
`get_shifts()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_PixelFormat.Rshift`, …
`get_losses()`	`sdl2.pixels.SDL_PixelFormat.Rloss`, …
`get_bounding_rect()`	No equivalent planned
`get_view()`	`sdl2.ext.PixelView`
`get_buffer()`	`sdl2.ext.PixelView` or `sdl2.surface.SDL_Surface.pixels`

pygame.surfarray¶

2D and 3D pixel access can be achieved via the sdl2.ext.PixelView class in environments without numpy. Simplified numpy-array creation with direct pixel access (similar to pygame.surfarray.pixels2d() and pygame.surfarray.pixels3d()) is available via sdl2.ext.pixels2d() and sdl2.ext.pixels3d().

pygame.time¶

pygame.time	sdl2
`get_ticks()`	`sdl2.timer.SDL_GetTicks()`
`wait()`	`sdl2.timer.SDL_Delay()`
`delay()`	`sdl2.timer.SDL_Delay()`
`Clock`	No equivalent planned

pygame.transform¶

The are no transformation helpers in PySDL2 at moment. Those might be implemented later on via numpy helpers, the Python Imaging Library or other 3rd party packages.

pygame.version¶

pygame.version	sdl2
`ver`	`sdl2.__version__`
`vernum`	`sdl2.version_info`