# raylib 5.5 — raylib v5.5

- Product: raylib (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/raylib)
- Vendor: raysan5
- Date: 2024-11-18
- Version: 5.5
- Original notes: https://github.com/raysan5/raylib/releases/tag/5.5
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/raylib/releases/5.5

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

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- **added** — Add 30 new functions to raylib API
- **added** — Add raylib pre-configured Windows package with C to WebAssembly compilation support
- **added** — Add raylib project creator tool for setting up professional projects with multiple build systems and GitHub CI/CD actions
- **added** — Add RGFW platform backend as a single-file header-only portable library for desktop and Web platforms
- **added** — Add SDL3 platform backend support alongside existing SDL2
- **added** — Add GPU skinning support for model animations across all platforms including OpenGL ES 2.0
- **added** — Add C++ operators for Vector2, Vector3, Vector4, Quaternion, and Matrix in raymath
- **added** — Add normals support on batching system
- **added** — Add clipboard images reading support
- **added** — Add CRC32, MD5, and SHA1 hash computation
- **added** — Add gamepad vibration support
- **changed** — Improve SDL2 functionality with several issues reviewed
- **changed** — Improve CPU animation system with simplified mathematics and multiplied performance
- **changed** — Review and fix 110 functions with improvements

![raylib55_banner](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2d18c1d8-e623-4f55-8496-bf6adfdb73df)

One year after raylib 5.0 release, arribes `raylib 5.5`, the next big revision of the library. It's been **11 years** since raylib 1.0 release and in all this time it has never stopped growing and improving. With an outstanding number of new contributors and improvements, it's, again, the biggest raylib release to date.

Some numbers for this release:

 - **+270** closed issues (for a TOTAL of **+1810**!)
 - **+800** commits since previous RELEASE (for a TOTAL of **+7770**!)
 - **+30** functions ADDED to raylib API (for a TOTAL of **580**!)
 - **+110** functions REVIEWED with fixes and improvements
 - **+140** new contributors (for a TOTAL of **+640**!)

Highlights for `raylib 5.5`:

 - **`NEW` raylib pre-configured Windows package**: The new raylib **portable and self-contained Windows package** for `raylib 5.5`, intended for nobel devs that start in programming world, comes with one big addition: support for **C code building for Web platform with one-single-mouse-click!** For the last 10 years, the pre-configured raylib Windows package allowed to edit simple C projects on Notepad++ and easely compile Windows executables with an automatic script; this new release adds the possibility to compile the same C projects for Web platform with a simple mouse click. This new addition **greatly simplifies C to WebAssembly project building for new users**. The `raylib Windows Installer` package can be downloaded for free from [raylib on itch.io](https://raysan5.itch.io/raylib).

 - **`NEW` raylib project creator tool**: A brand new tool developed to help raylib users to **setup new projects in a professional way**. `raylib project creator` generates a complete project structure with **multiple build systems ready-to-use** and **GitHub CI/CD actions pre-configured**. It only requires providing some C files and basic project parameters! The tools is [free and open-source](https://raysan5.itch.io/raylib-project-creator), and [it can be used online](https://raysan5.itch.io/raylib-project-creator)!.

 - **`NEW` Platform backend supported: RGFW**: Thanks to the `rcore` platform-split implemented in `raylib 5.0`, **adding new platforms backends has been greatly simplified**, new backends can be added using provided template, self-contained in a single C module, completely portable. A new platform backend has been added: [`RGFW`](https://github.com/raysan5/raylib/blob/master/src/platforms/rcore_desktop_rgfw.c). `RGFW` is a **new single-file header-only portable library** ([`RGFW.h`](https://github.com/ColleagueRiley/RGFW)) intended for platform-functionality management (windowing and inputs); in this case for **desktop platforms** (Windows, Linux, macOS) but also for **Web platform**. It adds a new alternative to the already existing `GLFW` and `SDL` platform backends.
 
 - **`NEW` Platform backend version supported: SDL3**: Previous `raylib 5.0` added support for `SDL2` library, and `raylib 5.5` not only improves SDL2 functionality, with several issues reviewed, but also adds support for the recently released big SDL update in years: [`SDL3`](https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL3/FrontPage). Now users can **select at compile time the desired SDL version to use**, increasing the number of potential platforms supported in the future!
 
 - **`NEW` Retro-console platforms supported: Dreamcast, N64, PSP, PSVita, PS4**: Thanks to the platform-split on `raylib 5.0`, **supporting new platform backends is easier than ever!** Along the raylib `rlgl` module support for the  `OpenGL 1.1` graphics API, it opened the door to [**multiple homebrew retro-consoles backend implementations!**](https://github.com/raylib4Consoles) It's amazing to see raylib running on +20 year old consoles like [Dreamcast](https://github.com/raylib4Consoles/raylib4Dreamcast), [PSP](https://github.com/raylib4Consoles/raylib4Psp) or [PSVita](https://github.com/psp2dev/ra

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