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Module render

minui

Module render 

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§Rendering System

The rendering system provides efficient, optimized drawing capabilities for terminal-based user interfaces. It implements a double-buffered approach that minimizes terminal updates and provides smooth, flicker-free rendering.

§Architecture

The rendering system is built around several key concepts:

§Buffered Rendering

  • Double Buffering: Maintains current and previous frame states
  • Change Detection: Only renders areas that have actually changed
  • Batch Operations: Groups consecutive changes to minimize terminal I/O

§Efficient Updates

  • Dirty Region Tracking: Tracks which areas of the screen need updates
  • Run-Length Encoding: Batches consecutive characters with the same styling
  • Color Optimization: Minimizes color change commands

§Components

  • [buffer] - Core buffering implementation with change detection
  • [viewport] - Viewport and scrolling support (planned feature)

§Performance Benefits

The rendering system provides significant performance improvements:

  1. Reduced Terminal I/O: Only changed areas are redrawn
  2. Optimized Cursor Movement: Minimizes cursor positioning commands
  3. Color Batching: Reduces color change operations
  4. Memory Efficiency: Reuses buffers and minimizes allocations

§Usage

The rendering system is used internally by TerminalWindow and is not typically accessed directly by application code. However, understanding its behavior can help optimize application performance:

use minui::{TerminalWindow, Window};

let mut window = TerminalWindow::new()?;
window.set_auto_flush(false); // Control when rendering happens

// Multiple drawing operations are buffered
window.write_str(0, 0, "Line 1")?;
window.write_str(1, 0, "Line 2")?;
window.write_str(2, 0, "Line 3")?;

// All changes rendered efficiently in one batch
window.flush()?;