Graphics Shaders: Theory and Practice [Hardcover]

Mike Bailey (Author), Steve Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1568813341 | ISBN-13: 978-1568813349 | Publication Date: May 20, 2009

Programmable graphics shaders, programs that can be downloaded to a graphics processor (GPU) to carry out operations outside the fixed-function pipeline of earlier standards, have become a key feature of computer graphics. This book is designed to open computer graphics shader programming to the student, whether in a traditional class or on their own. It will complement texts based on fixed-function graphics APIs, specifically OpenGL. It introduces shader programming in general, and specifically the GLSL shader language. It also introduces a flexible, easy-to-use tool, glman, that helps you develop, test, and tune shaders outside an application that would use them.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bailey and Cunningham provide a comprehensive, well-written overview of graphics shaders. … Although the book uses the OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) for its examples, it gives enough theoretical background for readers to learn the fundamentals for any graphics language. … The book also addresses scientific visualization and the GLSL API to call GLSL functions from an OpenGL program. A final chapter offers ideas for using shaders in very entertaining ways. … Highly recommended. [Appropriate for] graduate students through professionals/practitioners in computer graphics.
—C. Tappert, CHOICE, December 2009

… a pick for any college-level, advanced computer library catering to programming professionals. … discusses different types of shaders, how to use the glman program for free, and how to blend shaders into an interactive game environment. Libraries will find it a powerful, appealing lend for intermediate programmers seeking extra spice for their projects.
—Midwest Book Review, August 2009

About the Author

Mike Bailey is a Professor in Computer Science at Oregon State University. His areas of interest include scientific visualization, high performance computer graphics, GPU programming, solid freeform fabrication, geometric modeling, and computer aided design and analysis. He received his PhD from Purdue University and has worked in industry and taught at several universities.

Steve Cunningham is Professor Emeritus in Computer Science, California State University Stanislaus. He has served as ACM SIGGRAPH President and has been a member of the Eurographics Executive Board and the ACM SIGCSE Executive Committee. He has authored, co-authored, or co-edited seven books, mostly on computer graphics related topics, including a recent textbook for a beginning computer graphics course.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 375 pages
• Publisher: A K Peters (May 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568813341
• ISBN-13: 978-1568813349
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #915,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very condensed knowledge, March 28, 2010

By 

Fang Jin (Irvine, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Graphics Shaders: Theory and Practice (Hardcover)

Actually I wasn't really into this book initially, and started to read it again after I finished the orange book of Opengl where I found the introduction material for GSLS is relative easy to digest. However once I started to play with shader, this book rocks, since it talks about pretty much most of the common and useful shader including scientific visualization (which is a plus for me). The math is dry but solid, as long as you know what he's talking about, the source code is very straight forward to follow. If you use Windows, the book has a build-in application to setup shader in seconds.

All in all, this serves me as a very good reference book, it contains very condensed information, just don't expect to read it from cover to back.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much theory, not enough practice, April 20, 2010

By 

Douglas Paul (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Graphics Shaders: Theory and Practice (Hardcover)

I haven't read the book too thoroughly yet, but so far it seems that while the book is decent at introducing the theory behind graphics shaders, it does a terrible job of teaching one how to write them. For example, the book will mention that there is a built-in variable that can be used to access a piece of information, but it won't bother to tell the reader what the name of the variable is! Combine that with a terrible index, and the book isn't very valuable to someone who actually wants to learn to write shaders. All that said, it's difficult to find good information on shaders on the Internet, so maybe it's worth having this book around if you can get a copy for cheap.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Paragon among Shader Books, December 10, 2009

By 

Chun-hyok Chong "Chunhyok" (Korea, South) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Graphics Shaders: Theory and Practice (Hardcover)

Most books on shaders have tendency to omit why the codes are so, they don't deal with the basis or theory of shader codes, in a short, too much practical.
This book explains the theories and the structures of codes for each topic well.

But the entire materials it handles are not enough to develop real game or simulator, I think it is good paragon for the educational sake.