4 ms·

An introduction to modern OpenGL

115 points by motter 15y ago

willvarfar 15y ago
So very necessary! The internet is awash with old legacy OpenGL that is a bad example to newcomers.
motter 15y ago
Note that this is in several parts. All are well worth reading: http://duriansoftware.com/joe/An-intro-to-modern-OpenGL.-Table-of-Contents.html http://duriansoftware.com/joe/An-intro-to-modern-OpenGL.-Tab...
Sharlin 15y ago
OpenGL 2.0 isn't particularly modern (released in 2004), but its featureset is a good baseline if you want to make sure your application works on just about any even remotely modern hardware. I suppose the "modern" in the title refers to the fact that the tutorial introduces vertex buffers and shaders right from the beginning, rather than delving into antique cruft such as immediate mode and fixed-function pipeline. This is indeed a good thing.
scriptproof 15y ago
The last version of Glut, 3.7 is from 1998, according to files dates. Is it really usable?
- stonemetal 15y ago
  It still worked the last time I tried it a couple of years ago. If it gives you any trouble there is FreeGlut that is an OSS API compatible work a like. Its last release was this month.
- pdw 15y ago
  Freeglut is still maintained (with the latest release a few weeks ago), but I don't know how good it is. I've used GLFW for all my OpenGL experiments.
- exDM69 15y ago
  No, that version is not usable because the underlying API's (WGL and GLX) have since updated and using that ancient version of GLUT will not allow you to use OpenGL 3+ at all. There's also a bunch of other features introduced by WGL and GLX API changes. The original GLUT was written for an OpenGL book (IIRC, the red book) so that the code examples wouldn't occupy so much space on paper. It wasn't probably intended to be used for real applications at all.
- Peaker 15y ago
  GLUT is pretty horrible (Does not support key bindings such as "Shift+Tab", does not report key presses when a different language layout is selected). GLFW seems much better, and simpler.
jodoherty 15y ago
Personally, I like this one: http://www.arcsynthesis.org/gltut/ http://www.arcsynthesis.org/gltut/
NelsonMinar 15y ago
I would love a version of this tutorial written for WebGL.
DharmaSoldat 15y ago
@NelsonMinar - I couldn't agree more. I'm currently learning OpenGL and having a hell of a time putting it all together. Thankfully I found a quick reference card for OpenGL 4.2, then I can see what's core then extrapolate from there. But yes there sure is a lot of schmutz out there.

115 points by motter 15y ago

So very necessary! The internet is awash with old legacy OpenGL that is a bad example to newcomers.

Note that this is in several parts. All are well worth reading: http://duriansoftware.com/joe/An-intro-to-modern-OpenGL.-Table-of-Contents.html http://duriansoftware.com/joe/An-intro-to-modern-OpenGL.-Tab...

Sharlin 15y ago

OpenGL 2.0 isn't particularly modern (released in 2004), but its featureset is a good baseline if you want to make sure your application works on just about any even remotely modern hardware. I suppose the "modern" in the title refers to the fact that the tutorial introduces vertex buffers and shaders right from the beginning, rather than delving into antique cruft such as immediate mode and fixed-function pipeline. This is indeed a good thing.

scriptproof 15y ago

The last version of Glut, 3.7 is from 1998, according to files dates. Is it really usable?

stonemetal 15y ago
It still worked the last time I tried it a couple of years ago. If it gives you any trouble there is FreeGlut that is an OSS API compatible work a like. Its last release was this month.
pdw 15y ago
Freeglut is still maintained (with the latest release a few weeks ago), but I don't know how good it is. I've used GLFW for all my OpenGL experiments.
exDM69 15y ago
No, that version is not usable because the underlying API's (WGL and GLX) have since updated and using that ancient version of GLUT will not allow you to use OpenGL 3+ at all. There's also a bunch of other features introduced by WGL and GLX API changes. The original GLUT was written for an OpenGL book (IIRC, the red book) so that the code examples wouldn't occupy so much space on paper. It wasn't probably intended to be used for real applications at all.
Peaker 15y ago
GLUT is pretty horrible (Does not support key bindings such as "Shift+Tab", does not report key presses when a different language layout is selected). GLFW seems much better, and simpler.

jodoherty 15y ago

Personally, I like this one: http://www.arcsynthesis.org/gltut/ http://www.arcsynthesis.org/gltut/

NelsonMinar 15y ago

I would love a version of this tutorial written for WebGL.

DharmaSoldat 15y ago

@NelsonMinar - I couldn't agree more. I'm currently learning OpenGL and having a hell of a time putting it all together. Thankfully I found a quick reference card for OpenGL 4.2, then I can see what's core then extrapolate from there. But yes there sure is a lot of schmutz out there.