# Chapter 1. Introduction

This chapter is Informative except for the sections on Terminology and Normative References.

This document, referred to as the “Vulkan Specification” or just the “Specification” hereafter, describes the Vulkan graphics system: what it is, how it acts, and what is required to implement it. We assume that the reader has at least a rudimentary understanding of computer graphics. This means familiarity with the essentials of computer graphics algorithms and terminology as well as with modern GPUs (Graphic Processing Units).

The canonical version of the Specification is available in the official Vulkan Registry, located at URL

http://www.khronos.org/registry/vulkan/