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As an outsider, it's really hard to discern what I might choose to learn amongst graphics tech. I've tried to invest my learning in subjects and technologies t
by rectang 5y ago
As an outsider, it's really hard to discern what I might choose to learn amongst graphics tech. I've tried to invest my learning in subjects and technologies that aren't going anywhere and where my knowledge will pay off over decades — computer science fundamentals, math, SQL, C, vanilla JavaScript, HTML, CSS, LaTeX, Git, Python, etc. It looks like everybody's still fighting it out in graphics though.
- Agentlien 5y agoHonestly, if you learn hlsl or glsl it's not much work to learn the other. I originally learned opengl in school and after a few years of working with it I transitioned to a job where we primarily used Direct3D. I guess I had passively picked up enough bits and pieces along the way because I never really thought about the shift. I briefly looked at Vulkan when it first came out, but I haven't had the time to get into it. That's a whole different beast.
- billti 5y agoThis. I wrestled with the same topic a couple years ago. Not only which to use, but once you choose a “common” one (say OpenGL), then actually getting pixels in a window is still different across platforms (hence things like SDL and GLFW). For me I settled on: 1) Learn WebGL in the browser. It’s a pretty good subset of OpenGL [ES] and an easy environment to experiment in. Then 2) learn a more “native” approach with good tooling support, such as Direct3D 11. (I wouldn’t get into D3D12 or Vulkan until you learn the basics pretty well). As others have mentioned, while the landscape is confusing, the concepts across them are pretty similar once you get a foothold.
- Jasper_ 5y agoGLSL and HLSL are close enough; as a professional engine developer I'm biased towards HLSL but just learn whatever you can.