linebender / linebender/vello

API: Remove backend from GlyphRunBuilder?

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Dominant language
Rust
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Description

Apologies if I get anything wrong in this issue.

I'm writing a program that is generic over `vello_gpu` and `vello_cpu`. The fact that `GlyphRunBuilder` is generic over the backend is somewhat inconvenient for this use. After checking the code, it seems that the backend is not used until `fill_glyphs` / `stroke_glyphs` / `render_decoration` is called.

Would it be possible to have an API more like this, where the glyph run can be built independently? The backend would only be created on the proposed `Scene.prepare_glyph_run` call

```rust
let glyph_run = GlyphRunBuilder::new(font)
.normalized_coords(normalized_coords)
.font_size(font_size)
.etc(..)
.build();

let prepared = scene.prepare_glyph_run(glyph_run);
prepared.fill_glyphs();
prepared.stroke_glyphs();
```

I tried to read the glifo code and understand if this would be possible, sorry if it isn't.

Thank you for all the great work on vello!

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by tracing GlyphRunBuilder and the glifo code paths used by fill_glyphs, stroke_glyphs, and render_decoration. Determine whether glyph runs can be built without a backend and define the API and tests needed for scene.prepare_glyph_run to create the backend-dependent prepared value.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
backend-api-design
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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