Foreword 前言

GStreamer is an extremely powerful and versatile framework for creating streaming media applications. Many of the virtues of the GStreamer framework come from its modularity: GStreamer can seamlessly incorporate new plugin modules. But because modularity and power often come at a cost of greater complexity, writing new applications is not always easy.
GStreamer 是一个功能强大、用途广泛的框架，可用于创建流媒体应用程序。GStreamer 框架的许多优点都来自于它的模块化：GStreamer 可以无缝集成新的插件模块。但是，由于模块化和强大的功能往往以更高的复杂性为代价，因此编写新的应用程序并非易事。

This guide is intended to help you understand the GStreamer framework so you can develop applications based on it. The first chapters will focus on development of a simple audio player, with much effort going into helping you understand GStreamer concepts. Later chapters will go into more advanced topics related to media playback and other forms of media processing (capture, editing, etc.).
本指南旨在帮助你了解 GStreamer 框架，以便你能在此基础上开发应用程序。前几章的重点是开发一个简单的音频播放器，主要是帮助你理解 GStreamer 的概念。后面几章将介绍与媒体播放和其他形式的媒体处理（捕获、编辑等）相关的更高级主题。

## Introduction 导言 
### Who should read this manual? 谁应该阅读本手册？
This book is about GStreamer from an application developer's point of view; it describes how to write a GStreamer application using the GStreamer libraries and tools. For an explanation about writing plugins, we suggest the Plugin Writer's Guide.
本书从应用程序开发者的角度介绍 GStreamer；它描述了如何使用 GStreamer 库和工具编写 GStreamer 应用程序。关于编写插件的说明，我们建议阅读《插件编写指南》（Plugin Writer's Guide）。

### Preliminary reading 初读 
In order to understand this manual, you need to have a basic understanding of the C language.
为了理解本手册，您需要对 C 语言有基本的了解。

Since GStreamer adheres to the GObject programming model, this guide also assumes that you understand the basics of GObject and glib programming. Especially,
由于 GStreamer 遵循 GObject 编程模型，本指南也假定您了解 GObject 和 glib 编程的基础知识、

GObject instantiation GObject 实例化

GObject properties (set/get) GObject 属性（设置/获取）

GObject casting GObject 铸造

GObject referencing/dereferencing
GObject 引用/反引用

glib memory management glib 内存管理

glib signals and callbacks glib 信号和回调

glib main loop glib主循环

### Structure of this manual 本手册的结构 
To help you navigate through this guide, it is divided into several large parts. Each part addresses a particular broad topic concerning GStreamer application development. The parts of this guide are laid out in the following order:
为了帮助你浏览本指南，它分为几个大的部分。每一部分都涉及与 GStreamer 应用程序开发有关的特定广泛主题。本指南各部分的顺序如下：

About GStreamer gives you an overview of GStreamer, its design principles and foundations.
关于 GStreamer 简要介绍 GStreamer 及其设计原则和基础。

Building an Application covers the basics of GStreamer application programming. At the end of this part, you should be able to build your own audio player using GStreamer
构建应用程序》涵盖 GStreamer 应用程序编程的基础知识。在本部分结束时，你应该能够使用 GStreamer 制作自己的音频播放器。

In Advanced GStreamer concepts, we will move on to advanced subjects which make GStreamer stand out from its competitors. We will discuss application-pipeline interaction using dynamic parameters and interfaces, we will discuss threading and threaded pipelines, scheduling and clocks (and synchronization). Most of those topics are not just there to introduce you to their API, but primarily to give a deeper insight into solving application programming problems with GStreamer and understanding their concepts.
在 "GStreamer 高级概念 "中，我们将讨论使 GStreamer 从竞争对手中脱颖而出的高级主题。我们将讨论使用动态参数和接口的应用程序-流水线交互，讨论线程和线程流水线、调度和时钟（以及同步）。其中大部分主题不仅仅是为了向你介绍它们的 API，更主要的是为了让你更深入地了解如何使用 GStreamer 解决应用程序编程问题，并理解它们的概念。

Next, in Higher-level interfaces for GStreamer applications, we will go into higher-level programming APIs for GStreamer. You don't need to know all the details from the previous parts to understand this, but you will need to understand basic GStreamer concepts nevertheless. We will, amongst others, discuss playbin and autopluggers.
接下来，在 GStreamer 应用程序的高级接口中，我们将介绍 GStreamer 的高级编程 API。要理解这部分内容，你不需要知道前几部分的所有细节，但还是需要了解 GStreamer 的基本概念。除其他内容外，我们还将讨论 playbin 和 autopluggers。

Finally in Appendices, you will find some random information on integrating with GNOME, KDE, OS X or Windows, some debugging help and general tips to improve and simplify GStreamer programming.
最后，在附录中，你可以找到一些与 GNOME、KDE、OS X 或 Windows 集成的随机信息、一些调试帮助以及改进和简化 GStreamer 编程的一般技巧。

Subpages: 子页面：

About GStreamer 关于 GStreamer

Building an Application 构建应用程序

Advanced GStreamer concepts 高级 GStreamer 概念

Higher-level interfaces for GStreamer applications
GStreamer 应用程序的高级接口

Appendices 附录