OpenGL(R) ES 2.0 Programming Guide (Paperback)

~ (Author), Dan Ginsburg (Author), (Author)

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Product Description

OpenGL ES 2.0 is the industry’s leading software interface and graphics library for rendering sophisticated 3D graphics on handheld and embedded devices. With OpenGL ES 2.0, the full programmability of shaders is now available on small and portable devices—including cell phones, PDAs, consoles, appliances, and vehicles. However, OpenGL ES differs significantly from OpenGL. Graphics programmers and mobile developers have had very little information about it—until now.

In the OpenGL® ES 2.0 Programming Guide, three leading authorities on the Open GL ES 2.0 interface—including the specification’s editor—provide start-to-finish guidance for maximizing the interface’s value in a wide range of high-performance applications. The authors cover the entire API, including Khronos-ratified extensions. Using detailed C-based code examples, they demonstrate how to set up and program every aspect of the graphics pipeline. You’ll move from introductory techniques all the way to advanced per-pixel lighting, particle systems, and performance optimization. 

Coverage includes:

• Shaders in depth: creating shader objects, compiling shaders, checking for compile errors, attaching shader objects to program objects, and linking final program objects
• The OpenGL ES Shading Language: variables, types, constructors, structures, arrays, attributes, uniforms, varyings, precision qualifiers, and invariance
• Inputting geometry into the graphics pipeline, and assembling geometry into primitives
• Vertex shaders, their special variables, and their use in per-vertex lighting, skinning, and other applications
• Using fragment shaders—including examples of multitexturing, fog, alpha test, and user clip planes
• Fragment operations: scissor test, stencil test, depth test, multisampling, blending, and dithering
• Advanced rendering: per-pixel lighting with normal maps, environment mapping, particle systems, image post-processing, and projective texturing
• Real-world programming challenges: platform diversity, C++ portability, OpenKODE, and platform-specific shader binaries

About the Author

Aaftab Munshi is the spec editor for the OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0 specifications. Now at Apple, he was formerly senior architect in ATI’s handheld group.

Dan Ginsburg is senior member of technical staff at AMD. At AMD and ATI, he has worked in a variety of roles, including the development of OpenGL drivers, the creation of desktop and handheld 3D demos, and the development of handheld GPU developer tools.

Dave Shreiner is one of the world’s foremost authorities on OpenGL. He is a systems architect at ARM, Inc., and the lead author of the official OpenGL® Programming Guide, Sixth Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2007) and series editor for the Addison-Wesley OpenGL Series.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (August 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321502795
• ISBN-13: 978-0321502797
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #103,207 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Information from the author, June 18, 2009

By	D. Ginsburg - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

From reading the reviews, there seems to have been a bit of confusion about whether or not the iPhone supports OpenGL ES 2.0. I thought I would chime in to help clarify the issue for potential buyers of the book. The iPhone 3G S that was announced on June 8th, 2009 is the first version of the iPhone to support OpenGL ES 2.0. The previous generation iPhone only supports OpenGL ES 1.1, which OpenGL ES 2.0 is not backwards-compatible with (the reasons for this incompatibility are discussed in Chapter 1 of the book).

In order to help iPhone 3G S developers use this book, I have ported the C-based sample code to the iPhone SDK 3.0 and made it available for download from the book website at http://www.opengles-book.com. In addition, I wrote a brief e-Chapter discussing what was involved in porting the sample code to the iPhone 3G S. That chapter is available for download for free from the book website in PDF.

I hope this helps clarify the questions.

31 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for iPhone, October 13, 2008

By	P. Singh (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Don't make the same mistake I did! While this maybe a fine book, it cannot be used for iPhone development. OpenGL ES 2.0 is not backwards compatible with OpenGL ES 1.1 (which is what the iPhone uses). I knew ahead of time what version iPhone used but figured it would be backwards compatible so why bother buying an older book? If that's what you're after then get another book or just download the 1.1 spec from the web.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Content, but Kindle Formatting is Poor, December 1, 2009

By	Dominic Cooney (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm really enjoying reading this book. It uses precise language without being impenetrably dense. The book works up to illustrating an OpenGL ES 1.0-style fixed-function pipeline in OpenGL ES 2.0 shaders. Unfortunately, all of the code samples are set in a proportional font in the Kindle version. Every so often there are horizontal lines through the code samples. The code is still readable. The rest of the content is OK, although subtle when rendered as gray-on-gray.