1. A computer-implemented method for accessing texture objects stored within a texture memory, the method comprising: receiving a texture bind request from an application program, wherein the texture bind request includes an object identifier that identifies a first texture object stored in the texture memory and an image identifier that identifies a first image unit; binding the first texture object to the first image unit based on the texture bind request; receiving, within a shader engine, a first shading program command from the application program for performing a first memory access operation on the first texture object, wherein the memory access operation is a store operation or an atomic operation to an arbitrary location in the image; and performing, within the shader engine, the first memory access operation on the first texture object via the first image unit.