Customer Reviews

OpenGL(R) Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL(R), Version 1.4 (4th Edition) (Networking Technology)

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When learning computer graphics, theory relies upon some sort of actual rendering environment to make life a lot easier for the programmer. This text helps to alleviate these problems by making the OpenGL architecture available in a structured way. The most positive aspects of the text are its pure devotion to teaching OpenGL as well as its copious, yet succinct examples provided for the presented topics.

The text does not proclaim to be a full text for teaching computer graphics. It claims to be a guide to programming using OpenGL. It completely fulfills that claim. While it does not treat every aspect of OpenGL, the text presents the major topics which are important in writing programs that will render their 3D graphics using OpenGL. It progresses from simple topics through more advanced topics in a seemless way and also is noted in such a way that it functions as an excellent reference when memory alone can not remember syntax for rendering functions.

The code provided with the book provides examples of topics that are presented but do not overwhelm the reader. It is an awful thing to buy a book and have it be predominantly code. Everything presented is succinct, expressing only the newly presented facets of OpenGL. This is grand when one wants to see how a given new topic may be implemented.

It would probably be best to view this text as an ancillary text for learning computer graphics. It is important to remember that the mathematics and algorithms necessary for thorough graphics simulation are of prime importance. However, after the mathematics and algorithms are known, one must know how to perform the operations necessary to render their worlds in the context of a 3D rendering library. This book allows for learning that for the OpenGL rendering architecture.

This is a concise, easy to read tutorial and reference for OpenGL programmers. The examples are easy to reuse and short enough that they don't bog you down in irrelevant details. The book is well organized. You can read it cover to cover or just skip right to the topic that you're interested in.

I found the section on the GLU tessellator invaluable. The chapters on viewing and lighting are the easiest to follow discussions of these topics that I've ever read.

Programmers with no previous graphics experience will be able to follow this book and become productive with basic OpenGL operations.

My only complaint is that it's not longer. It gives you enough information to get started and complete most tasks but won't answer your very specific questions. But there's plenty of information elsewhere on more advanced topics.

I've been working with graphics for about 5 years, using an abstracted library. When I had to take over the library, this book provided me an excellent introduction to the use of OpenGL. This book is very good for learning how to use OpenGL, and specific commands, and is presented in a relatively logical order. I keep a copy of this on my bookshelf next to a copy of the OpenGL Super Bible, which is a little better as a pure reference guide. Between the two (and MSDN) I can figure out pretty much any problem, one way or another.

A nifty explanation of practical graphics programming. Not so long ago (well, the 80s), if you wanted to do computer graphics with, say, a light source and Gourard shading, the only recourse was a $100 000 Evans and Sutherland machine. Plus, any code was in the latter's native graphics library, further increasing your dependence on that company. Along came SGI, who basically then took the workstation graphics market in the 90s.

One of the good things SGI did was to promote OpenGL as a set of graphics routines. Gradually, with each iteration of OpenGL, it moved from a dependence on SGI hardware and IRIX (their version of Unix) to a software interface that frees you from a given hardware platform. This, and the sheer functional sweep of the graphics capabilities described in the book, may make OpenGL the easiest way for anyone to learn and apply graphics. The book describes such necessities (which is what these have become nowadays) as texture mapping, NURBS, tesselations and motion blur.

The book covers topics up to, but not including, ray tracing. The book is an ideal companion to a pure graphics text, that goes into the theory. The emphasis here is on showing how you can apply that theory, without having to code elementary operations from scratch. The authors do describe some theory, but only the pragmatic minimum necessary to motivate an explanation of the library's routines. In other words, you will not get drowned in maths!

If you want to learn what is openGL and how to create 3d graphics using this library, this book is perfect. But if you need more, such as collision detection, 3d engine design, game programming ..., you should choose another book.

this book includes all the basic concept, and some good code example. it is good for a beginner.

If you feel the need to know,this is the book for you to understand raphic programming language.Couple with the extesions handbok it is a complete coursework for graphics programming to be used anywhere visual
manipulation and creatin is needed.

I've bought this book which is good for learning OpenGL 1.4, but be carefull if you want to learn vertex,fragment programs: contrary to what is written on the cover, this book doesn't talk at all about vertex,fragment programs.

The sentence "Most importantly, the ARB vertex and fragment program extension is introduced." is an editorial mistake..
To learn to program shaders, you'll need another book..

I've bought this book from here because out here in the netherlands it's about $ 44 US more.
I'm know at the lightning chapter, and it's quite easy to follow(as 14 year old dutch boy).
To bad i don't understand all the mathematic things but that's not really nescary if your not using light.
So i recomment this book to evry beginning opengl programmer.