OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Version 4.3

Summary:

Today’s OpenGL software interface enables programmers to produce extraordinarily high-quality computer-generated images and interactive applications using 2D and 3D objects, color images, and programmable shaders.

* OpenGL® Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL®, Version 4.3, Eighth Edition, * has been almost completely rewritten and provides definitive, comprehensive information on OpenGL and the OpenGL Shading Language. This edition of the best-selling “Red Book” describes the features through OpenGL version 4.3. It also includes updated information and techniques formerly covered in OpenGL® Shading Language (the “Orange Book”).

For the first time, this guide completely integrates shader techniques, alongside classic, functioncentric techniques. Extensive new text and code are presented, demonstrating the latest in OpenGL programming techniques.

* OpenGL® Programming Guide, Eighth Edition, * provides clear explanations of OpenGL functionality and techniques, including processing geometric objects with vertex, tessellation, and geometry shaders using geometric transformations and viewing matrices; working with pixels and texture maps through fragment shaders; and advanced data techniques using framebuffer objects and compute shaders.

New OpenGL features covered in this edition include

Best practices and sample code for taking full advantage of shaders and the entire shading pipeline (including geometry and tessellation shaders)
Integration of general computation into the rendering pipeline via compute shaders
Techniques for binding multiple shader programs at once during application execution
Latest GLSL features for doing advanced shading techniques
Additional new techniques for optimizing graphics program performance

Review

“Wow! This book is basically one-stop shopping for OpenGL information. It is the kind of book that I will be reaching for a lot. Thanks to Dave, Graham, John, and Bill for an amazing effort.”

—Mike Bailey, professor, Oregon State University

“The most recent Red Book parallels the grand tradition of OpenGL; continuous evolution towards ever-greater power and efficiency. The eighth edition contains up-to-the minute information about the latest standard and new features, along with a solid grounding in modern OpenGL techniques that will work anywhere. The Red Book continues to be an essential reference for all new employees at my simulation company. What else can be said about this essential guide? I laughed, I cried, it was much better than Cats—I’ll read it again and again.”

—Bob Kuehne, president, Blue Newt Software

“OpenGL has undergone enormous changes since its inception twenty years ago. This new edition is your practical guide to using the OpenGL of today. Modern OpenGL is centered on the use of shaders, and this edition of the Programming Guide jumps right in, with shaders covered in depth in Chapter 2. It continues in later chapters with even more specifics on everything from texturing to compute shaders. No matter how well you know it or how long you’ve been doing it, if you are going to write an OpenGL program, you want to have a copy of the OpenGL® Programming Guide handy.”

—Marc Olano, associate professor, UMBC

“If you are looking for the definitive guide to programming with the very latest version of OpenGL, look no further. The authors of this book have been deeply involved in the creation of OpenGL 4.3, and everything you need to know about the cutting edge of this industry-leading API is laid out here in a clear, logical, and insightful manner.”

—Neil Trevett, president, Khronos Group

About the Author

Dave Shreiner, Director of Graphics and GPU Computing at ARM, Inc., has been active in OpenGL development nearly since its inception. He created the first commercial OpenGL training course and has taught OpenGL programming for twenty years.

Graham Sellers, coauthor of OpenGL® SuperBible, manages OpenGL Software Development at AMD. He authored many OpenGL feature specifications and helped bring OpenGL ES to desktop computers.

John Kessenich, OpenGL Shading Language Specification Editor, consults at LunarG, Inc., building compiler technology for GLSL. He helped develop OpenGL 2.0 and OpenGL ES 2.0 at 3Dlabs and Intel.

Bill Licea-Kane is Principal Member of Technical Staff at AMD, coauthor of OpenGL® Shading Language Guide, and chairs the OpenGL Shading Language technical subgroup.

opengl programming guide: the official guide to learning opengl, version 4.3

Review